Year: 1875

The WashingtOn's were North of Eng
land people, who some time lived in Dur
ham, then in Lancashire, and finally in
NOrthamptonshire. 1t is safe to go back
to the reigns of the Seventh and Eighth
Harrys for founder, and we find him in
Sir Thomas Kitson, one Of the great mer.
chants who developed the wool trade.
The first of the family to settle in the
rich pasturagc of the midland county Of
Northampton was Lawrence Washing
ton, whose mother was Kitson. Law
renee was barrister, but gave up his
profession of the law for the good and
ancient reason, perhaps, that though he
was bred to the law, the law was not
bread for him, and so he retired to the
country to look after his uncle Kitson's
hocks of merinos. Lawrence must have
been a man of some significance, for he
was made Mayor of Northampton, and
when Bluff Hal raided the monasteries,
Lawrence being identified with the cause
of Reformation, came in for share of
what in vulgar parlance might be called
the "swag;" in other words, the King
made grant to him of the monastic
lands of Sulgrave. Near this was
Althorp, the family seat of the Spencers,
and the Lady Spencer of that day was
the daughter of Sir Thomas Kitson, and
consequently the first cousin of Lawrence
Washington. The rector of the parish
was DIR. Layton, who was Lord Crom-
wells prime commissioner for the disso-
luton of monasteries, by which we reach
another cause, in addition to his blood
relationship to the Spencers, of why the
In, &c III ab kax han
to Lawrence Washington.


For three generations the WashingtOns
held Sulgrave, taking rank among the
nobility and landed gentry of the coun-
try, but after that their fortunes waned.
Sulgrave was sold, and the family retired
to the parish of Brington, under the care
and patronage, as it were, of poor rela-
tionship of the Spencers. Prosperity,
however, came to them here quickly, and
it came in way to prove the respecta-
bility of their lineage. The eldest son
of the family married the halfsister Of
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham,
and thus we see the Washingtons inter
marrying with two of the best families in
all England. The Washington who
emigrated to America in 1867
was the grandfather of the hero who
sleeps on the banks of the Potomac. In
1862 he was knighted by James !, and it
is known that he was on the most friend
ly terms with the Spencers down to the
very eve of the civil war. In that
struggle the Washingtons drew their
swords for the king. Sir Henry Wash
ington led the stormy party at Bristol,
and defended Worcester. Sir Henry
held the rank of colonel, and was a man
so noted for his bravery that it became
a proverb in the army when difficulty
arose: away with it," quoth Washing
ton.


In Brington church are two sepulchral
stones, one bearing the date of 1916 over
the grave of the father of Washington, the
emigrant, in which his arms appear inn
paled with those of his wife. The other
stone covers the remains of his uncle,
and presents on bas the simple family
shield with the crescent appropriate to
younger brother. We have before us a
transcript of this shield, and from it we
are constrained to believe that the United
States flag as seen now very certainly
took its origin. In this shield are five
horizontal stripes, of alternate gules and
white, as are those of the national flag,
while the three stars in the upper stripe
have the parallel popularity of being
five pointed. All this may not be of in
terest to those who care very little
whether George Washington had grand
father or not, but then again there may
be others who will not think any the less
of the Father of the Great Republic be-
cause his ancestors fought against Crom-
well and his Ironsides to keep Charles
head upon his shoulders.