Washington Old Hall

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Washington Old Hall

Washington Old Hall is a mansion in central Washington in north east England . The mansion was the ancestral home of the family of George Washington , the first President of the United States.

history

William de Hertburne, an ancestor of George Washington, believed to have leased Wessyngton land from the Bishop of Durham for an annual lease of £ 4. Shortly thereafter, he changed his name to William de Wessyngton (later Washington). Although he used Norman spelling (based on a Middle English rendition of the original), the estate is originally known in Anglo-Saxon as Hwæssaingatūn , which means "goods of the descendants of Hwæssa" (Hwæssa became Wassa in modern English) . In 1613 the Washington family moved south to Sulgrave Manor and the mansion was sold to the Bishop of Durham.

Washington Old Hall was used as a residence until the 19th century when it gradually fell into disrepair as a tenement. The building was declared uninhabitable in 1936, but was saved from demolition by Fred Hill, a local teacher, by founding Friends of the Old Hall to restore the building. The repair work was paused during World War II and finally completed in 1955. In 1957 the National Trust took over responsibility for the building.

As a result of the historic ties between Washington, DC and the City of Sunderland , a "treaty of friendship" heralds the hope of cultural and economic relationships with one another. The Wessyngton (Washington) family has not owned Washington Old Hall since the early 14th century when Sir William Mallory married Dionysia Tempest, the last Wessyington heir, at the Hall. Dionysia was the daughter of Sir William Tempest and his cousin, Eleanor Wessyington. The sale in 1613 was made by Sir John Mallory and Anna Eure, investors in the Virginia Charter; Sir John Mallory was a descendant of Sir William Mallory and Dionysia Tempest.

Web links

Coordinates: 54 ° 54 ′ 9.8 "  N , 1 ° 30 ′ 59.2"  W.