{{short description|Colonial American family}}
{{For|the painting by Edward Savage|The Washington Family{{!}}''The Washington Family''}}
{{Infobox family
| name = Washington
| coat_of_arms = COA George Washington.svg
| coat_of_arms_caption = [[Coat of arms of the Washington family|Washington coat of arms]]
| image = Arms of Washington and pedigree of Washington LCCN2003662360.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| imagecaption= Pedigree and arms of the Washington line
until [[George Washington]]
| region = [[Colony of Virginia]]
| early_forms = de Washington; earlier, de Wessyington
| origin = [[Washington Old Hall]], England
| founded = 12th century
| traditions = [[Anglicanism]]{{\}}[[Episcopalian]]
| motto = {{native phrase|la|Exitus acta probat}}
| motto_trans = The outcome is the test of the act
| estate = [[Washington Old Hall]], [[Mount Vernon]], [[Abingdon (plantation)]], [[Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial|Arlington House]], [[Beall-Air]], [[Blakeley (West Virginia)]], [[Blenheim (Wakefield Corner, Virginia)]], [[Bushfield (Mount Holly, Virginia)]], [[Cedar Lawn]], [[Claymont Court]], [[Germantown White House]], [[Fairfield (Berryville, Virginia)]], [[Ferry Farm]], [[Harewood (West Virginia)]], [[Kenmore (Fredericksburg, Virginia)]], [[River Farm]], [[Sulgrave Manor]], [[Tudor Place]], [[Washington Bottom Farm]], [[George Washington Birthplace National Monument|George Washington Birthplace]], [[Mary Ball Washington House]], [[White House (plantation)]], [[Woodlawn (Alexandria, Virginia)]]
| meaning = Derives from [[Washington, Tyne and Wear|Wessington (Washington)]] in the [[County Durham|County of Durham]]
| footnotes =
}}
The '''Washington family''' is an American family of English origins that was part of both the British [[landed gentry]] and the [[American gentry]]. It was prominent in [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial America]] and rose to great [[economic]] and [[political]] eminence especially in the [[Colony of Virginia]] as part of the [[planter class]], owning several highly valued [[Plantations of New England|plantations]], mostly making their money in [[Cultivation of tobacco|tobacco farming]]. Members of the family include the first [[president of the United States]], [[George Washington]] (1732–1799), and his nephew, [[Bushrod Washington]] (1762–1829), who served as [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]].
The family's roots can be traced back to the 12th century in [[Washington, Tyne and Wear|Washington]], in the historic [[County Palatine of Durham]] in northern England, where their ancestral home was [[Washington Old Hall]]. In the 16th century, a branch settled at [[Sulgrave Manor]] in [[Northamptonshire]]. [[John Washington]], born 1631 in [[Tring]], [[Hertfordshire]], England, arrived in the [[Colony of Virginia]] in 1657 after being shipwrecked.
== Roots in England ==
The Washington family are descended from [[Crínán of Dunkeld|Crínán "the Thane" of Dunkeld]] (†1045), [[lay abbot]] and son-in-law of [[Malcolm II of Scotland]]. In 1183, his descendant [[Sir]] [[William de Hertburn]] (originally William Bayard){{Cite journal|last=Wells|first=William C.|date=1913|title=A Washington Token|url=https://www.britnumsoc.org/publications/Digital%20BNJ/pdfs/1913_BNJ_10_21.pdf|journal=British Numismatic Journal|series=2|publisher=British Numismatic Society|volume=10|page=326}} traded his manor of Hertburn (modern-day [[Hartburn, County Durham|Hartburn]]) for that of Wessyington in [[County Durham]] near the [[River Wear]]. According to post-[[Norman Conquest|Conquest]] noble custom, his family adopted the name of the estate as an [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] surname, "de Wessyington", which later became "Washington".{{cite web |last=Hardy |first=Rob, Ph.D. |title=Ancestry |url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ancestry/ |website=mountvernon.org |location=Carleton College}} Wessyington was an [[Old English]] placename and probably refers to the estate of a man named Wassa.{{cite web |url= https://www.etymonline.com/word/Washington#etymonline_v_40116term=nasty|title=''Washington'' etymology |access-date=February 1, 2009|last=Harper |first= Douglas |work= etymonline.com |publisher=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |date=November 2001}} On this site were [[Relic|relics]] of [[Saint Cuthbert]], transferred to Durham from its [[shrine]] at [[Lindisfarne]], as a saint invoked in combat against the [[Scottish people|Scots]] (compare [[Kirkcudbrightshire]]), and a symbol of the importance, privileges, and [[feudal]] obligations of the illustrious [[Bishop of Durham]] and his vassals, including the Washingtons. The Washington family held the [[manor house]] at [[Washington Old Hall]] from 1180 to 1613, as part of the [[landed gentry]] of the [[County Palatine of Durham]]. [[File:Washington Hall - panoramio (1).jpg|thumb|left|upright=.80|Old Hall, the Washington ancestral home]]In the early 14th century, Robert de Washington, a descendant of William de Wessyngton, settled in [[Warton, Lancaster|Warton, Lancashire]]. Lawrence Washington, a descendant of Robert, moved from Warton to [[Northamptonshire]] in 1529, where he became a prosperous wool merchant. He acquired [[Sulgrave Manor]], formerly owned by [[St Andrew's Priory, Northampton]], during the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] and constructed a new manor house there.{{cite news |last=Balter |first=Michael |date=February 26, 1995 |title=George Washington's British Roots |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/travel/1995/02/26/george-washingtons-british-roots/855619e0-e01a-45b1-9ce3-8c386aef219b |access-date=February 2, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Sulgrave Manor was completed in 1560 and remained in the Washington family until 1610.
Lawrence Washington's great-grandson, [[Lawrence Washington (1602–1652)]], was a [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]]. His brother Sir William Washington married the half-sister of [[George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham]].{{cite web|url=http://www.newcastlegateshead.com/things-to-do/washington-old-hall-p23531|title=Washington Old Hall|publisher=Newcastle Gateshead|access-date=March 3, 2020}} The Washington family supported the [[Cavalier|Royalists]] during the [[English Civil War]] and were dispossessed of their lands following their defeat. This may have motivated Lawrence's son, [[John Washington]], to leave England and seek better prospects in America.
== History in America ==
===First generation===
The Washington family arrived in the [[Colony of Virginia]] in 1657, He was a [[Planter (American South)|planter]], soldier, and politician in [[colonial Virginia]] in North America and a lieutenant colonel in the local militia. He settled in [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]].
John Washington married Anne Pope in 1658 and had the following children: [[Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)|Lawrence Washington]] (the paternal grandfather of President George Washington), John Washington Jr. and Anne Washington. There were two additional children, names unknown, mentioned as deceased when he wrote his will on September 21, 1675.{{cite book|last=Whipple|first=Wayne|url=http://archive.org/details/storylifewashin00unkngoog |title=The story-life of Washington; a life-history in five hundred true stories|date=1911|publisher=Philadelphia, The John C. Winston company|others=University of Michigan |access-date=February 25, 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html|title=John Washington and His Descendants|website=kenmore.org|access-date=March 3, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112002728/http://kenmore.org/genealogy/washington/descendants.html|url-status=dead}} Anne Pope was the daughter of Englishman Nathaniel Pope and Lucy Fox.
===Second generation===
The family, especially [[Lawrence Washington (1659–1698)|Lawrence Washington]], rose to great economic prominence, especially in regard to real estate, owning several [[plantation]]s, mostly for [[tobacco cultivation]]. Lawrence married [[Mildred Gale|Mildred Warner]] in 1686 and had three children, John Washington III (1692–1746), Augustine (1694–1743) and Mildred (1698–1747). Mildred Warner (1671–1701) was a daughter of [[Augustine Warner Jr.]] and Mildred Reade. Her paternal grandparents were English settlers [[Augustine Warner Sr.]] and Mary [[Towneley family|Towneley]].
Lawrence died at age 38 in February 1698 at [[Warner Hall]], [[Gloucester County, Virginia|Gloucester County, Colony of Virginia]], in the same year his daughter was born.
Following his death, Mildred Warner Washington married George Gale, who moved the family to [[Whitehaven]], [[Kingdom of England|England]], where Mildred died in 1701 aged 30 following a difficult childbirth.{{cite web|url=http://www.kenmore.org/foundation/gene_washington.html|title="Washingtons" Genealogy|website=The George Washington Foundation|access-date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=January 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090101223223/http://www.kenmore.org/foundation/gene_washington.html|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/famousfolks/georgew/i0000005.htm#s3 |title="Washington Family: Third Generation"|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104082445/http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/famousfolks/georgew/i0000005.htm#s3 |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |website=Genealogy.com}}
===Third generation===
[[Augustine Washington]] was born at Bridges Creek plantation in [[Westmoreland County, Virginia]], in 1694, to Capt. Lawrence Washington and Mildred Warner. Augustine married twice; his second marriage in 1730 to [[Mary Ball Washington|Mary Ball]] produced the following six children: George (eldest and first president of the United States), [[Betty Washington Lewis|Elizabeth "Betty"]], [[Samuel Washington|Samuel]], [[John Augustine Washington|John]], [[Charles Washington|Charles]] and Mildred Washington.
{{image frame
| border = no
| content = {{image array|perrow=2|width=140|height=145
| image1 = Augustine Washington.jpg
| caption1 = [[Augustine Washington]]
| image2 = Mary Ball Washington(Pine).jpg
| caption2 = [[Mary Ball Washington|Mary Ball]]
}}}}
Mary Ball (born c. 1707) was raised in the family Epping Forest estate, the only child of [[Joseph Ball (Virginia public servant)|Joseph Ball]] (1649–1711), an English justice, [[vestryman]], [[lieutenant colonel]] and [[Burgess (title)|burgess]] in the [[Colony of Virginia]], and Mary Johnson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ball-family/|title=Ball Family|website=Mount Vernon|access-date=August 4, 2020|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128085109/https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ball-family/|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16891446/mary-ball-ancestry-related-to-joseph/|title=Mary Ball ancestry related to Joseph Ball Estate Johnson Gilbert Bird Day|newspaper=Evening Star|date=July 19, 1908|page=22|access-date=August 4, 2020}}
The Washington family owned land (on the banks of the [[Potomac River]] in [[Fairfax County, Virginia]]) since the time of Augustine's grandfather John Washington in 1674. Around 1734, Augustine brought his second wife Mary and children to the plantation called [[Little Hunting Creek]] when George was about two years old. Augustine began on an expansion of the family home that continued under their son George, who began leasing the [[Mount Vernon estate]] in 1754, becoming its sole owner in 1761.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/the-mansion/expansion-of-mount-vernons-mansion/|title=Expansion of Mount Vernon's Mansion|website=George Washington's Mount Vernon|language=en|access-date=August 8, 2020}}
===Fourth generation===
[[File:Edward Savage - The Washington Family - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[The Washington Family]] (1789–1796) by [[Edward Savage (artist)|Edward Savage]]]]
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at [[George Washington Birthplace National Monument|Popes Creek]], Virginia, [[British America]] and the oldest of six children to Augustine and Mary Washington. He became an American political leader, military general and [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Father]] who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Washington died December 14, 1799, age 67, at [[Mount Vernon]], the family's estate in Virginia. Washington had no biological children. His wife Martha Dandridge had four children from her first marriage to [[Daniel Parke Custis]]. These stepchildren were Daniel Custis (1751–1754), Frances Custis (1753–1757), [[John Parke Custis|John "Jacky" Parke Custis]] (1754–1781) and Martha "Patsy" Parke Custis (1756–1773).{{cite web|url=https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/family/|title=Washington family|access-date=August 16, 2020}}