George Washington; Gilbert Stuart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Origins of the Washington Family, plus, the Stricklands
by Jude Cowell
The Washington family's Coat of Arms was adopted by an ancestor of our country's first president named William de Wassington and you've most likely perused the Wikipedia page of the Washington Family so you know that George Washington's great-grandfather John Washington (1633--1677) was first of the family to reach the shores of Colonial Virginia in 1657 after surviving a shipwreck.
So as an armchair genealogist, naturally I wanted to check the geni dot com website to see if I have a direct or an in-law family connection to first President George Washington - both as it turns out for President Washington is my 9th cousin 8 times removed. So we may as well face it: said to be sterile from an early case of smallpox, The Father of Our Country may be your cousin, too!
Now on geni dot com, I couldn't resist following George Washington' paternal line back to his ancestor Robert de Washington, Sr who married one of my Strickland family members, Joan, daughter of Sir William Strickland, Knt, and Elizabeth d'Eyncourt (circa 1240 - circa 1273: my 21st great-grandparents). Elizabeth was the only heir of her father, Sir Ralph d'Eyncourt, also a Knight. Sir Ralph is my 22nd great-grandfather, as I'm told.
Then if memory serves via my past research forays into the ancient, misty past concerning my too-ancient-DNA-to-affect-me-now indications, Sir William's is the marriage into the d'Eyncourt family that brought Sizergh Castle (Manor, really) into the Strickland family where folks may visit the 12th-century structure and stroll its beautiful gardens, if they wish!
Of course, nowadays, Sizergh Castle and Gardens are under care of Britain's National Trust, Grade I listed, so perhaps let's close this post with a link to an 8-minute video tour plus history of the stately home as an enticement for a dear reader such as yourself!
A Previous Post regarding the The Death Horoscope of George Washington may be of interest, and by the way: with transit Pluto @29Capricorn right now, the primal planet of power, wealth, and stealth, sits upon the natal Midheaven of George Washington, while conjuncting the natal Mars of yours truly as I type this post which has involved a measure of research into a more primal period of family origins. So there ya go, dear reader!
