Withers (surname)
| Withers | |
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| Family name | |
| File:WithersCoA.jpg
Withers Arms and Crest
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| Meaning | "Son of Withar (Víðarr)", for proper earlier form |
| Region of origin | England |
| Language(s) of origin | [[Old English language|Old English]] |
| Related names | Wither, Wyther, Withars, Wider, Wythe |
Withers — earlier Wither, Wyther — is an English surname of Anglo-Saxon origin. It is today a not uncommon family name throughout the Anglosphere.
Contents
History
The family name appears on various early documents such as in a charter of Æthelred II, dated 1005 A.D. where one of the witnesses signs his name as "Ego Wiþer minister" (a thorn used in the stead of the digraph "th"). In the Domesday Book of 1089 the name is shown as a tenant prior to that date. In the 11th century, the name showed no prefix, suggesting that it was not derived from a place, as were many names at that time. Rather, the name seems to be patronymic (Withar is a Saxon name taken from the Germanic god, known in Old Norse as Víðarr). The name means "son of Withar", though the name Withar itself is shared by a Saxon god.
Records of the 11th century indicate the holding of land in many counties of England by persons named Wyther. A continuous record of a Wyther family does not appear until the time of Henry II (reigned 1154-89). This was a Wyther family of County Lancaster (now Lancashire) including Sir Robert Wyther, Knight, of Pendleton Hall, Lancashire, and of Halton, Cheshire, Seneschal to Roger de Lucy, Constable of Chester (1179–89). He married Joan, daughter of Sir Adam de Bostock, Knight, of Davenham, County Chester (now Cheshire).
By the 15th century, Wyther families descended from Sir Robert Wyther were living in Cheshire, Lancaster, Wiltshire, Essex, London, Somersetshire, and Hampshire Counties. (For the Hampshire County branch, see Berry's Hampshire County Genealogy.)
Coat of arms
A Withers family coat of arms was granted in the reign of Queen Mary I (1553–1558 C.E.) to Sir Richard Withers of East Sheen (ancestor of the poet George Wither) and registered in the College of Arms, London.[1] The blazon has “Argent, a chevron gules between three crescents sable” (i.e., White/silver field, red chevron between 3 black crescents).[2] The traditional family motto is "I grow and wither both together".
Notable people named Withers, Wither, or Wyther
Actors
- Googie Withers (1917–2011), British movie actress
- Grant Withers (1905–1959), American movie actor
- Isabel Withers (1896–1968), American actress
- Jane Withers (born 1926), American radio, television and movie actress
- Mark Withers (actor) (born 1947), American television actor
Ambassadors
- Charles D. Withers (born 1916), American diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda (1963–1966)
- John L. Withers, II, US Ambassador to Albania
Artists and architects
- Ernest Withers (1922–2007), African-American photographer
- Frederick Clarke Withers (1828–1901), British-American Gothic Revival architect
- George Withers, American illustrator
- Walter Withers (1854–1914), Australian landscape artist
Athletes
- Bob Withers, Australian Rules footballer during the 1950s–1960s
- Charlie Withers (1922–2005), English footballer
- Colin Withers (born 1940), English footballer
- David D. Withers (1821–1892), American racehorse breeder
- Gadwin Withers, British athlete in the 1908 Summer Olympics.
- H. W. Withers, American college basketball and football coach
- Lincoln Withers (born 1981), Australian rugby league player
- Mark Withers (footballer) (born 1964), Australian Rules footballer
- Michael Withers (born 1976), Australian rugby league footballer
- Ted Withers (1915–1994), English footballer who played for Southampton and Bristol Rovers
Military
- Jones M. Withers (1814–1890), Confederate major general; lawyer and politician
- Ramsey Muir Withers (born 1930), Canadian soldier, former Chief of the Defence Staff
Musicians
- Bill Withers (born 1938), African-American singer-songwriter
- Elisabeth Withers, American jazz/R&B singer
- Pick Withers (born 1948), British drummer for the band Dire Straits
- Steve Withers (born 1961), American pianist
Politicians
- Sir John Withers (1863–1939), British politician
- Garrett L. Withers (1884–1953), American politician
- Reginald Withers (1924–2014), Australian politician
- Robert E. Withers (1821–1907), physician, US Senator and diplomat
- Thomas Jefferson Withers (1804–1865), Confederate politician during the American Civil War
- William Withers (1657–1720), English politician, Lord Mayor of London (1707–1708)
- William A. Withers (died 1887), mayor of Cumberland, Maryland, USA
Writers
- Alexander Scott Withers (1792–1865), American historian of early Appalachian Indian-white warfare
- Charles W. J. Withers (born 1954), Scottish historical geographer
- George Wither (1588–1667), English poet and satirist
Fictional characters
- Hildegarde Withers, in novels by Stuart Palmer
References
Citations
- ↑ Crozier, William Armstrong, Editor (1908), Virginia Heraldira, Being a Registry of Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Amor, Reprinted Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1965, pp 62-63..
- ↑ Newton, William (1846), A Display of Heraldry, London: William Pickering, pg 230.
Other sources
- Withers Family of the County Lancaster, England, and of Stafford County, Virginia Establishing the Ancestry of Robert Edwin Withers, III; Presented by Mr. Robert Edwin Withers, Sr. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1947).
- Virginia Historical Magazine review (1948).
- Berry, William (1833), County Genealogies: Degrees of the Families of the County of Hants: Collected From the Heraldic Visitations and Other Authentic Manuscript Museum, and in the Possession of Private Individuals; London: Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper, 379 pgs. [NB: Hants = Hampshire]
- Bigg-Wither, Reginald Fitz Hugh, Materials for a History of the Wither Family, Winchester: Warren & Son, 1907.
- Gatewood, Virginia Pierce and Robert L., A Withers-Downey Genealogy: A Withers History With Allied Lines, Conway, AR: 1966.
- Recum, Franz V., Withers -- America or A Collection of Genealogical Data Concerning the History of the Descendants in the Male Line of James Withers (1680/1-1746) of Stafford County, Virginia, New York: 1949.
- "The Withers Family, of Stafford, Fauquier, &c.," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 6, No. 3 (Jan. 1899):309-313; Vol. 6, No. 4 (Apr. 1899):425-427. Digital version at JSTOR.
- Withers, Webster, "An Unfinished History of the Withers Family in Kansas City, Missouri". Kansas City, Mo.: Webb Print, 1932.
See also
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