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- Sulgrave Manor is the ancestral home in England of George Washington'sfamily. The property is situated in the beautiful rural village communityof Sulgrave, near to Banbury and about 30 miles from bothStratford-upon-Avon and Oxford. It was bought by Lawrence Washington, awealthy wool merchant and Mayor of Northampton, when Henry VIII dissolvedthe monasteries. Lawrence's descendants lived for over 120 years (1539 -1659) in the home that he built.
When the English Civil War between Charles I and Oliver Cromwell'sParliamentary Army broke out, many of Lawrence Washington's descendantssupported the Royalist cause. After the defeat of Charles I, manyRoyalists emigrated to Virginia and in 1656, Colonel John Washington, thegreat-great grandson of Lawrence Washington and the great-grandfather ofGeorge Washington , crossed the Atlantic.
More than 250 years after the first Washingtons landed in America,President Theodore Roosevelt decided that there should be a propercelebration of the centenary of the end of the war of 1812 - the lastserious armed conflict between England and America. Prominent statesmenand civic leaders were recruited to form peace committees in the UnitedStates, in Great Britain and in Canada. The British committee decided topurchase George Washington's ancestral home on behalf of the British andAmerican people and, after World War I, King George V was a leadingcontributor to the Sulgrave Manor Restoration Fund.
From "Sulgrave Manor" Home of George Washington's ancestors ,www.stratford.co.uk/sulgrave/
GEORGE WASHINGTON AND THE WASHINGTON FAMILY
The story of the Washington family begins with William, who settled atWashington in north-east England, some time before 1180. Like other greatmediaeval landed proprietors the Washingtons moved between their estates,living in different properties in turn while performing local duties andservices, but known by the name of their principal residence. William,descended from the younger son of an ancient noble house, became thefounder of another great line, which, after varied fortunes, produced thefirst President of the United States of America.
It was Lawrence Washington, born c. 1500, the eldest son of JohnWashington of Warton, Lancashire, who first settled at Sulgrave with hissecond wife Amy, the third daughter of Robert Pargiter of Greatworth,near Sulgrave. His former wife, Elizabeth, died childless and RobertWashington his eldest son, born to Amy in 1544, inherited Sulgrave Manorwith about 1250 acres. In 1568, Robert's Wife Elizabeth gave birth to ason, Lawrence, who later married Margaret, daughter of William Butler, ofTyes Hall, Cuckfield, Sussex, he died on 13th December 1616 in herfathers' lifetime.
From "Sulgrave Manor" Home of George Washington's ancestors ,www.stratford.co.uk/sulgrave/
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