George Washington & Sulgrave Manor

George Washington's family history is permanently tied up with Sulgrave Manor mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086. A Sulgrave Manor house went to John de Stotesbury in 1359 and then passed to the Priory of St. Andrew, Northamptonshire. (Postal address: Sulgrave Manor, Sulgrave, Banbury, OX17 2SD, England. Tel: (0)1295 760 205 Fax: (0)1295 768 056) John de Stotesbury is related to an Anglo-Saxon Stotberie in the Doomsday Book and so is quite ancient in origin. The name means Cattle & Fish Rearing Area from Stote (Young Cow and Berie meaning Egg) which fits the location of the village in Northamptonshire.

"Hugh and Landric hold of Gilo 2 hides in STOTBERIE. There is land for 5 ploughs. In demesne there is 1 (plough) and 2 serfs, and (there are) 5 villeins and 3 borders, and 3 other men with 1 plough. Wood(land) 3 furlongs in lenght and 2 furlongs in breadth. It was worth 30 shillings, now (it is worth) 40 shillings. Lauric and Aloric hold (it)."—Domesday Book 1086.

Over the years the village changed its name and the Sulgrave Manor was taken by King Henry VIII during the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, and sold on to a wealthy wool merchant and Mayor of Northampton, Lawrence Washington (1500-1584)! Lawrence Washington lived at Sulgrave Manor and his descendants stayed from 1539 to 1659 (120 years). Employed by Sir William Parr, uncle of Henry VIII's last Queen, Catherine, Lancastrian Lawrence moved to Northamptonshire in 1530 and was well on the road to success. Married to Elizabeth Gough of Northampton he had flourished as a wool merchant and was Mayor of Northampton in 1532 and 1545. He already owned land and rented a small house in Sulgrave when he bought the Manor from the Crown for £324 14s 10d. He built the small Northamptonshire manor house we know in about 1560.

When the Civil War broke out between King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, Lawrence Washington's descendants supported the Royalists. So after Charles I died, many Royalists went to Virginia. In 1656, Mayor Washington's great-great grandson Colonel John Washington left Britain to take up land in Virginia that later became Mount Vernon. Colonel Washington was to be the great grandfather of George Washington, 1st President of the United States of America!

Sulgrave Manor c.1086-2000

The Manor itself is located in the country village of Sulgrave nr Banbury, within a 30-mile reach of Northampton, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford. It is just off the B4525 road, 7 miles N.E. of Banbury; 6 miles N.W. of Brackley and the A43 and 10 miles west of Towcester and the A5. London via the M1 (Junction 15a Northampton or 14 Milton Keynes) or M40 (Junction 11) is 70 miles away. The nearest rail link is from Banbury.

The Washington family itself has mediæval origins, descended from an ancient noble house via one William De Hertburn, and although Sulgrave Manor is the most famous home it is not their ancestral home. That lies much further north, shown below.

Washington Hall 1183-1613

Mediæval William lived in Washington, northeastern England, before 1180. The mediæval Washington's, known by the name of their Hall, moved regularly between estates, whilst performing local duties and services.

Modern Washington Coat of Arms, left, and Old, above.

But it was to be the eldest son of John Washington of Warton, Lancashire, who first lived at Sulgrave with his second wife Amy. Robert Washington was born to Amy and Lawrence Washington in 1544. He inherited about 1250 acres with Sulgrave Manor. Robert's Wife Elizabeth had Lawrence in 1568, who married Margaret and died within her fathers' lifetime on 13 December 1616.

The 5th son of Lawrence and Margaret, Rev. Lawrence Washington, was born in 1602. He was rector of Purleigh, Essex in April 1633. He married Amphyllis, daughter and Co-heiress of John Twigden, of Little Creaton, Northamptonshire. Their son John was born the following year. In 1643 the Civil war was raging on and he was accused of being a "Malignant Royalist" and so Parliament ordered the living of Purleigh to be sequestered and he was removed. His brother was the brother-in-law of the King's favourite, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Another brother, Thomas, was page to the King on his voyage to Madrid in 1623 and yet another, Sir John Washington, was a prominent royalist while Sir William's son, Colonel Henry Washington actually held Worcester for the King and fought for him at the battle of Edghill in 1642. Rev. Lawrence Washington' fate was sealed. Amphyllis and her children lived with her stepfather in Tring. John Washington was only 19 when his father died in poverty in c.1654. About two years later, his mother died and was buried at Tring. Soon John went to London married and sailed for Virginia in 1656, but his wife died and in 1658 he married Anne, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel Pope JP, of The Cliffs, from the northern neck of Virginia near the Potomac. The wedding present from his father-in-law was a 700-acre estate at Mattox Creek, where Lawrence was born in 1659. In 1685 Lawrence Washington was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. In c.1686 he married Mildred, daughter of Colonel Augustine Warner, of Warner Hall. Lawrence made a will on 11 March 1698 and died soon after, leaving his wife with three children. John, who was nearly seven, Augustine, aged three, and Mildred, a baby. With an estate of 1700 acres in 1715 Augustine came of age and married Jane on the 20th April. She was the 16-year-old heiress of Major Caleb Butler JP.

Birthplace of George Washington

He married a 23-year-old orphan, Mary Ball, on 6 March 1730. On 22 February 1731 their first-born, was George, the 1st president of the United States of America.

A New Nation

Henry VII Silver Groat Elizabeth I Gold Coin Charles I Silver Schilling Coins they used

George Washington

The Washington family residing in Britain and America have seen many changes and supported the monarchy only to fight against it later on. Their home is mentioned in the Domesday Book and the coins they traded with span our most interesting moments in time. From mediæval William to a Tudor Lawrence and a Georgian George! Experiencing Elizabethan England along the way, from Shakespeare to the Armada!

WASHINGTON

A visit to Americas ancestral home is a trip back through time. The way the livestock were kept can be seen along

with the way people were kept too!

Do you remember walking up this path? Do you remember dressing this way? Do you remember what it was like? Tudor history experience on a Tudor Tour, the living history re-enacted in Tudor workshops.

When Henry VIII ruled what was it like to live at Sulgrave Manor?

The Manor House flies the Stars and Stripes. This is appropriate because the inspiration for the world's most recognisable flag came from the Washington Coat of Arms consisting of mullets (stars) and bars (stripes).

THE END