George Washington is an American hero – so why was he the pride of Victorian England?

He may be a symbol of US independence, but George Washington’s family tree is firmly rooted on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Sam Edwards visits the English towns and villages that the president’s ancestors once called home

A man in a suit and ruffed collar in front of a blue background

Published: December 21, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Save

In 1886 a remarkable discovery in Lancashire, England, shed important new light on what one newspaper called the “vexed question of the ancestry of George Washington”. The discovery came during restoration work at St Oswald’s Church in Warton, a small village in the north of the county overlooked by a rocky crag and an Iron Age hill fort. As workmen chipped away at some of the old plaster on the church tower’s exterior, they were amazed to uncover “the coat of arms and name of the Washington family”.

Ad

The news was received in Lancashire and beyond with delight. Indeed, despite his central role in leading the American Revolution, George Washington had long been a popular figure in Britain. He was often praised by the British press for his citizen virtue and skills as a military leader, and his death in December 1799 was mourned on both sides of the Atlantic.

On learning of his passing, some of the ships of the Royal Navy’s fleet even lowered their flags to half-mast as a mark of respect. Little wonder that the discovery of Washington’s family crest at Warton was greeted with such enthusiasm. Here at last, after many years of detailed genealogical research, was something definitive, something literally carved in stone. The coat of arms at St Oswald’s provided clear proof that the Washington family tree had roots in the Lancashire loam.

The timing could not have been more perfect. The relationship between the US and UK governments was just then becoming increasingly friendly – a development the historian Bradford Perkins later termed the ‘Great Rapprochement’. This was a good time, in short, to discover (and proclaim) Washington’s ‘Englishness’, particularly because his stock in the United States was riding especially high. Only a couple of years earlier, a huge obelisk in his memory had been dedicated in the nation’s capital, which still dominates the city skyline even now.

British enthusiasm for Washington persisted over the subsequent decades. In the early 20th century, correspondents to The Times could still be found regularly (and excitedly) debating the first president’s English lineage, and by the 1920s there was a veritable ‘cult’ of Washington on this side of the pond.

Today, five places in England can claim a close tie to Washington, as we reveal below…

A photograph of a white village pub with a red and gold sign saying George Washington. To the left, there is a large church tower

The George Washington pub in Warton is only a short distance from the church where the first president’s distant relatives, Elizabeth and Thomas Washington, are buried (Image by Alamy)

1. Warton, Lancashire

Where you can sup a pint in a pub named for George

It’s fair to say that although George Washington was aware of a family connection to “one of the northern counties of England” he knew very little beyond that. The discovery of the family crest on the church tower in Warton therefore revealed that Washington’s instincts were correct. His family was indeed from a northern county – Lancashire – and it was quickly apparent that the ties to Warton went very deep.

By 1888, one local historian, Henry Whitman, had even documented these ties in a special volume titled The Washingtons and their Connection with Warton. Among the local details Whitman recounted were a Washington grave (of Elizabeth, died in 1751, and of Thomas Washington, died in 1823) and a Washington House (dated 1612, and located on the village’s main street). Both the grave site and the house duly became key destinations for Washington pilgrims.

In 1932, a large group of Americans visited the village to mark the bicentennial of Washington’s birth and, before departing, took time to lay a wreath at the grave of Elizabeth and Thomas. They were followed a decade later by groups of Lancashire-based American troops who left behind a Stars and Stripes flag that was subsequently flown from the tower of St Oswald’s every 4th July.

And then, in 1976, the bicentennial of the American Revolution was celebrated in Warton with 10 days of festivities. The carefully planned events unfolded during a now-legendary summer heatwave and the partygoers became so parched that they literally drank the local bar dry! In 1998, the pub in question – The Black Bull – changed its name to The George Washington.

Today, you can sup a pint under an American flag and just a short walk from where Washington’s distant relatives, Elizabeth and Thomas, are buried.

A statue of a man with a hammer, next to three cannon guns

A statue at Whitehaven harbour depicts George Washington’s contemporary, John Paul Jones, sabotaging the town’s guns ahead of a planned American raid (Image by Alamy)

2. Whitehaven, Cumbria

The burial place of George’s grandmother – and the only place in England invaded by the US Navy

Lancashire isn’t the only northern county to claim a connection to the first president. In Whitehaven in Cumbria (historic Cumberland) there’s a Washington link that is even closer. The town, once heavily involved in the trade with the American colonies, is the final resting place of Mildred Gale, George Washington’s paternal grandmother, who died here in 1701.

Born and raised in Virginia, Mildred was married to a Lawrence Washington (one of many in the Washington clan – see below for more details) and it was one of their children – Augustine – who became the father of George. Following Lawrence’s untimely death (in 1698), Mildred married George Gale of Whitehaven, hence why she was in town in 1701.

The exact cause of her own death is unclear, though it was most probably some sort of disease as her infant child and maid also perished. The latter, a young woman by the name of ‘Jane’, was likely enslaved, though she was referred to in the parish burial register as a “negro servant”. Notably, Jane seems to have been buried in the same grave as Mildred.

It was many years later, in 1876 – the 100th anniversary of the American Revolution – that the town’s Washington link was properly rediscovered. The link drew still more attention in the 20th century and a plaque commemorating the connection was unveiled in the church in 1955. Sadly, the church was severely damaged by fire in 1971, but a new memorial tablet was erected in 2006.

Interestingly, this is not the town’s only link to the events of the American Revolution. In April 1778 a contemporary of George Washington – John Paul Jones – led a naval raid on Whitehaven. Jones’s plan was to disable the town’s guns and then set the ships in the harbour alight. The attack was only a partial success, however, because soon after their landing several of Jones’s men proceeded to the first pub they could find where they duly got drunk!

Today, Whitehaven is proud of its connection to John Paul Jones. In 1999, the town even issued a declaration allowing one US Navy man o’ war per year to enter the harbour without charge.

Despite its connection to George Washington’s medieval ancestors, Washington Old Hall was nearly demolished in the 1930s. It is now under the care of the National Trust (Image by Alamy)

Despite its connection to George Washington’s medieval ancestors, Washington Old Hall was nearly demolished in the 1930s. It is now under the care of the National Trust (Image by Alamy)

3. Washington Old Hall, Tyne and Wear

Visited in 1977 by another president with local roots

The Washington family seems to have first arrived in the Warton area as far back as the late 13th century, when a Robert Washington married into the Strickland family at nearby Sizergh Castle. Robert’s name – Washington – was derived from the village in County Durham where he lived, and he took it with him when he headed west. However, a branch of the family remained in County Durham until the end of the 14th century, and their impressive home still stands today: Washington Old Hall.

Parts of the building likely go back to the age of the very first Washington – William (great-great grandfather of Robert) – and in the centuries that followed it had a remarkable life, going from a medieval manor house to a Victorian tenement. By the 1930s the house had fallen into disrepair and so an organisation was formed to purchase and restore it. In 1956, the National Trust assumed responsibility for its care and maintenance.

The hall’s moment in the limelight came in May 1977 when huge crowds gathered there to welcome President Jimmy Carter. Carter was on an official tour of the northeast, and the hall was his second stop. The first was at Newcastle Civic Centre where he gave a speech which began with the now-famous words (delivered in almost passable Geordie) “Howay the lads”!

A large brick house in front of a gravel path and greenery with British flags outside of it

Built for the president’s wealthy wool merchant ancestor, Lawrence Washington, Sulgrave Manor is a site of pilgrimage for many American tourists (Image by Alamy)

4. Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire

A ‘shrine’ to George, deep in the English countryside

If the Old Hall in Washington has the earliest English connection to the first president, it’s nonetheless another rural country seat that claims the title of being his ancestral home: Sulgrave Manor in deepest Northamptonshire. Tudor in origin, the house was built by Lawrence Washington (the first of several ‘Lawrences’ in the Washington genealogy) and it remained in the family until the mid-17th century. After the Washingtons’ departure it was occupied by various tenant farmers, and by the 20th century it had fallen into disrepair.

The manor was subsequently saved thanks to the intervention of several high-profile figures, including Theodore Roosevelt, president of the United States from 1901–09. ‘Teddy’, as he was known, was keen to mark the centennial of the Treaty of Ghent, the agreement that had ended the War of 1812 (which had seen British troops march on Washington and burn down the White House).

By 1914, fundraising in both countries had enabled the purchase of the house, but the outbreak of the First World War then delayed the plans for its repair and reconstruction. The restored manor was finally unveiled as a ‘shrine’ to the Anglo-American relationship in June 1921.

Interestingly, this was not the only celebration of George Washington’s English connections that summer. Just a week after the events at Sulgrave, a statue of the first president was unveiled in London overlooking Trafalgar Square. The two projects were in fact closely connected and so the statue’s dedication similarly involved various influential figures. One of these was Lord Curzon, the British foreign secretary, whose unveiling speech went so far as to claim Washington as a “Great Englishman”.

In the years afterwards a popular myth developed around the statue: to honour Washington’s vow never to set foot on English soil, it was said that the statue was purposefully placed on earth imported from his home state of Virginia. Unfortunately, nothing in the archival record suggests that this is true. But the myth has been so powerful that following the recent re-dedication of the statue, in June 2025, some soil from Washington’s Mount Vernon home was indeed placed beneath the pedestal.

A large stained glass arched window

Unveiled in 1928, a memorial window at All Saints’ Church, Maldon, pays tribute to the president and his great-great grandfather, Reverend Lawrence Washington (Image by Getty Images)

5. Purleigh and Maldon, Essex

The key link to the very first Washingtons of Virginia

By the time the Washingtons sold Sulgrave in the mid-17th century, one branch of the family had settled at Purleigh in Essex, 10 miles to the east of Chelmsford. This was where clergyman Reverend Lawrence Washington – the great-grandson of the Lawrence who had built the manor at Sulgrave – had been given the wealthy parish of All Saints. However, the good reverend’s commitment to the Crown during the Civil War led him to fall out of favour with the Puritan authorities and he later died in poverty in 1652.

Perhaps this was why his son John opted to find a future in the North American colonies, landing in Virginia in 1657. John’s son – yet another Lawrence – was born in the colony in 1659, and it was he who married Mildred (later buried at Whitehaven). Of their three surviving children, one – Augustine – was to be the father of George Washington.

When Reverend Lawrence Washington died, he was buried not in his old parish at Purleigh, but in nearby Maldon, and in 1928 a memorial window was dedicated there to commemorate this fact. The window was a gift from the citizens of the similarly named Malden in Massachusetts and was unveiled, very deliberately, on 5th July (just a day after Independence Day).

The keen-eyed will see that towards the top of the window’s central panel is an image of the Washington coat of arms: three stars in red, above four bars in red and white. This is the very same heraldic sign that had been uncovered by workmen in Warton all those years before, and a long-running (though unproven) myth holds that it was in fact the inspiration for the Stars and Stripes of the American flag.

Ad

Dr Sam Edwards is a reader in modern political history at Loughborough University

Ad

Ad

Loading...

Ad

Loading...