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Witherington History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Witherington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Witherington family

The surname Witherington was first found in Northumberland where they held a family seat from very ancient times at Widdrington Castle. "High Trewhitt is 4¼ miles (N. W.) and Low Trewhitt 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Rothbury. These places were in the time of James I. possessed by Sir Ephraim Widdrington: the family of Clavering held the former in the reign of Charles I., but forfeited it by their attachment to the Stuarts." 1

As one would expect the eponymous parochial chapelry of Widdrington, again in Northumberland is of special note to the family. "This place was long the seat of the Widdrington family, many of whom at various periods greatly distinguished themselves against the Scots, and on other occasions. Sir William Widdrington, in 1642, was expelled from the house of commons for raising forces in defence of Charles I., by whom, in the following year, he was elevated to the dignity of baron; after the battle of Marston-Moor, he left the kingdom, when his estates were confiscated by the parliament, but returning in the service of Charles II., he was slain at the conflict of Wigan.

William, 4th lord Widdrington, was attainted in 1715, for his share in the rebellion of that year, and his property, to the amount of £100,000, was sold for the public advantage; thus consummating the downfall of a family that had flourished during a space of seven centuries." 1

Witherington is a tything, in the parish of Downton, union of Alderbury, hundred of Downton, Salisbury and Amesbury in Wiltshire.

Early History of the Witherington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Witherington research. Another 144 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1563, 1610, 1640, 1651, 1656, 1660, 1663, 1664, 1665, 1678, 1685, 1688, 1689, 1716, 1718 and 1743 are included under the topic Early Witherington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Witherington Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Widdrington, Widrington, Witherington and many more.

Early Notables of the Witherington family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was Thomas Preston (1563-1640), a Benedictine monk assumed the name Roger Widdrington while in prison; William Widdrington (1610-1651), 1st Baron Widdrington; and his son, Ralph Widdrington (c. 1640-1718), Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed (1685-1689); Baron William Widdrington (1678-1743), 4th Baron Widdrington of Blankney; Thomas Widdrington (1640-1660), an English politician who sat...
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Witherington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Witherington Ranking

In the United States, the name Witherington is the 17,917^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Witherington migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Witherington Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Richard Witherington, who landed in Virginia in 1716 3
Henry and Jane Witherington, who settled in New England in 1747
John Witherington, who settled in Maryland in 1774

Witherington Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

A Witherington, who arrived in New York, NY in 1811 3
M. Witherington, aged 24, originally from London, arrived in New York in 1893 aboard the ship "Teutonic" from Liverpool, Queenstown 4
Margaret Witherington, aged 30, originally from Belfast, arrived in New York in 1894 aboard the ship "Ethiopia" from Moville, Ireland 4
William James Witherington, aged 3, originally from Belfast, arrived in New York in 1894 aboard the ship "Ethiopia" from Moville, Ireland 4

Witherington Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Elizabeth Witherington, aged 33, originally from Lyndhurst, England, arrived in New York in 1907 aboard the ship "Carmania" from Liverpool, England 4
John Witherington, aged 45, arrived in New York in 1921 aboard the ship "Iroquois" from Dominican Ports via Turks Island 4
Elizabeth Witherington, aged 48, originally from Lyndhurst, England, arrived in New York in 1922 aboard the ship "Mauretania" from Southampton, England 4

Witherington migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Witherington Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Witherington, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 27th August 1836, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Mr. William Witherington, English convict who was convicted in Liverpool, Merseyside, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Egyptian" on 5th April 1839, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6

Witherington migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 7

Witherington Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Thomas Witherington, who settled in Jamaica in 1654
Anne Witherington and her husband settled in Barbados in 1668

Contemporary Notables of the name Witherington (post 1700) +

Ben Witherington III (b. 1951), American New Testament scholar
Benjamin Witherington, American politician, Member of North Carolina House of Commons from Lenoir County, 1801-02 8
William Frederick Witherington (1785-1865), English painter and academic from London 9
Cecil Pearl Witherington Cornioley CBE (1914-2008), nicknamed "Agent Wrestler," Paris-born, British World War II secret service agent who was recommended for the Military Cross, but as a woman, she was ineligible

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Ellis Island Search retrieved 15th November 2022. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th October 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 26th January 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/egyptian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 5 Feb. 2019