1996
The 13th Century font in St. Andrew's Church. On 2nd February 1602 a baby girl named Amphillis Twigden, daughter of John Twigden (a member of a well-to-do and highly respected local family, who are commemorated by a brass in the Church) and Anne Dickons of Creaton was christened. She married Rev Lawrence Washington (who was born at Sulgrave Manor), and they became the great-great grandparents of George Washington (1732-1799), the first President of the United States of America.
John and Lawrence, two sons of Lawrence Washington and Amphillis Twigden, decided to try their luck overseas and after the death of their parents left England for the colonies in America arriving in Virginia in 1657 with a number of other wealthy emigrants from Northamptonshire. The brothers prospered and in 1674 Lieutenant Colonel John Washington acquired 5,000 acres of wilderness at the confluence of Little Hunting Creek and the Potomac River. His partner was a distant relative from Northamptonshire, Colonel Nicholas Spencer. John Washington's share of the land, later named Mount Vernon, in due course descended to George Washington, who in 1776became the first president of the newly independent United States. Here, he made his home with his wife Martha and after his death at the age of 67 in 1799 he was buried in the family tomb on the estate.
Image Reference: 0944
Related Searches: Church | Friends of St. Andrews now St. Andrews Heritage Society | 1990
