Finding Your Folks: Westmoreland ancestry questioned

I received an interesting e-mail last week from David Hancock (davidbhancock@yahoo.co.uk), a Westmoreland researcher who questioned some of the information included in Ettie Tidwell McCall’s book, “McCall, Tidwell and Allied Families,” written in 1931. Mrs. McCall’s book has been the basis for many of my columns published during the last year on the Westmorelands, Tidwells and Moodys (and many other allied families) who settled in our area of Fayette, Coweta, Campbell, Spalding, Pike, and Meriwether counties.

David’s question involved the Westmoreland family of Virginia’s roots in England.

Mrs. McCall’s book states (page 170): “The Cumberland Westmorelands are the parent branch in England and from records it is found that this Cumberland branch were living at Wigton Hall, Cumberland, in 1667, then at Milburn, Westmorelandshire, England, where Isaac and Agnes Westmoreland lived. Many of this branch of the family have been Rectors of the Church of England. (Lampleigh, England.) From records in Virginia, it is found that many of this Westmoreland family came to America before 1720 and settled in Virginia at the mouth of the James River.”

Mrs. McCall goes on to give the Westmoreland lineage as it moves from Virginia into Georgia.

I have condensed three of David’s letters into one since some of the questions he asked were answered and do not pertain to the lineage.
David writes: “I am a long time researcher of the Westmorland family of Cumberland and Westmorland and have hard documentary evidence of the family dating back to the late 1500s.

“I have read your column regarding the Westmorland family and (question) the information about Isaac and Agnes Westmorland living at Wigton Hall, Milburn.

I know Isaac and Agnes well and have many documents pertaining to the couple. There is no mention of them ever living in Milburn ... especially at Wigton Hall, which is situated in Wigton NOT Milburn. There is no Wigton Hall in Milburn and it would seem there never has been. According to the records the Westmorlands never lived at Wigton Hall, Wigton.

“There was another branch of the Westmorland family living at Milburn, Westmorland and they were there in the 1500s. My Isaac Westmorland was born in 1693 in Addingham parish (Cumberland) and married Agnes in 1727 at Crosthwaite church. The family lived in Wigton. I have their children and none of them appear to have emigrated. Some of their grandchildren travelled to the British West Indies where a branch settled in Jamaica. As far as I know none of Isaac’s siblings emigrated and his father and grandfather were both yeomen in Addingham parish.

“The other branch of Westmorlands I mentioned above, who originated from Milburn, produced several members of the clergy, namely Thomas Westmorland and his son and grandson. According to the Parish records and wills and manorial records there is no record of an Isaac Westmorland ever having lived in Milburn.

“There are several myths about the Westmorland family that have been perpetuated by unscrupulous researchers in the USA earlier last century.

“The biggest myth, all over the Internet, is that the Westmorlands of Virginia are descended from the Earls of Westmorland of Milburn. This is a load of rubbish, as I suspect is the Wigton Hall myth. I think certain people like to think they are descended from aristocratic stock when they are not!!

“I have a paper written in 1980 by an American lady, Lucia Foster, in which she tries to prove that these myths are indeed just a figment of someone's imagination. The paper is lodged at the Dallas public library and contains a lot of evidence to disprove the theories.

“I am going to see if I can locate the McCall book online and perhaps purchase a copy ... it could be interesting.

“The other ‘Westmorland’ book to look out for is ‘Westmorland Lineage & Descendants of Thomas Westmorland immigrant to Virginia.’ This was written in 1908 by Edward A Claypool. It was he who perpetuated the myth of the Earls of Westmorland being ancestors of the Thomas W. who emigrated to Virginia. He claimed that the title was taken away from our Westmorlands in England (whose family name was supposedly Fane!) and that Thomas Fane changed his name to Westmorland (in memory of the title) when he went to America. This is such a load of nonsense. The Fane family did lose the title of the Earl of Westmorland in the 1600s, but the Westmorlands are the Westmorlands and not the Fane family!

“Any of your readers who believe that they are descended from the Westmorlands of Milburn, Westmorland Co. can contact me and I will supply what information I can, but I can assure them that these Westmorlands were in Milburn in the 1500s and they were NOT earls!! They were yeoman farmers.

“Hope all this makes sense but you can see what confusion people like Mr. Claypool cause to family historians.

“Best wishes, David.”

I really appreciate David’s letters which are the first I have received from “over there.” I would be very interested in hearing the response from “this side” of the pond.

Stories about your ancestors who lived in the south metro Atlanta area are most welcome. Send them to The Citizen, P.O. Drawer 1719, Fayetteville, GA 30214, or e-mail jkilgore@thecitizen.com or JodieK444@aol.com.

Until next week, happy hunting!