The Norman Manor House built by William de Wessynton was both inherited and
inhabited by his direct male descendants and their families until the death of his
great-great-great-great-grandson Sir William de Wessington V in 1399.
Unfortunately he did not have a male heir.

The property therefore passed into the hands of the Tempest Family when Sir William de
Wessington V’s daughter Eleanor (Alianora) married her kinsman Sir William Tempest of
Studley Royal and Hertford in Yorkshire, and Trefford in County Durham. The Tempest
family had acquired Studley through the marriage of Richard Tempest to Isabel, daughter
and heir of Sir Richard de Bourne of Studley in 1355. This was his second marriage. Upon
his first marriage to Joan, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas de Hertford, he acquired the
Manor of Hertford in Yorkshire.

Sir William Tempest and his wife Eleanor de Wessington had two children, William and
Dionisia. In 1440 William Tempest Jnr married Elizabeth Montgomery, daughter of Sir
John Momtgomery. Unfortunately William died on 20th December 1443 leaving behind a
son John, who died in 1450, and a daughter Isabel. Isabel inherited Hertford and Hetton
(County Durham) from her brother, John, and married Richard Norton of Norton Conyers.
Dionisia Tempest inherited Studley Royal and Trefford from her brother William.

As a result of Sir William Tempest dieing without leaving a male heir, Wessington Manor
passed into the hands of the Mallory Family when his daughter, Dionisia, married Sir
William Mallory around 1430. At the time of their marriage Sir William Mallory was Lord of
Hutton Conyers in Yorkshire. Upon his marriage he became Lord of Hutton Conyers and
Lord of Wessington. In 1443 when Dionisia inherited Studley and Trefford from her brother
William, Sir William Mallory also became Lord of Trefford and Lord of Studley Royal.It
was indeed a very advantageous marriage for Sir William Mallory.

The Mallories were Lords of Wessington Manor for almost 180 years, until it was sold to
the Blakiston Family around 1606/7 by Sir John Mallory, a descendant of the original Sir
William Mallory and Dionisia Tempest. The first Washington / Blakiston connection goes
much further back in the history of Durham when Roger, son of Hugh de Blaykeston,
married Christiana de Wessington. There was a much earlier De Wessington / de Blaykeston
connection in1376, in the form of the “Wessington / Blaykeston Deed" which records a
settlement between Sir William de Wessyngton and William de Blaykeston.

Sir William Blakiston of Gybsette, Gibside, County Durham (1562 - 1641) married Jane
Lambton, daughter of Robert Lambton and Frances de Eure, grand-daughter of Lord Ralph
Eure and great-niece of Anne (Eure) Mallory  and Sir John Mallory of Washington Manor.

The Blakiston Family sold the Washington Manor to the Bishop of Durham in 1613.
By Audrey Fletcher 2004
Updated 2017
Lords of Washington Manor
Washington, Tyne Wear, England
The Washington, Tempest, Mallory
and Blakiston Families
The Wessington / Blaykeston Deed 1376
was written in Norman French.
Mallory Family Genealogy
Washington Family Genealogy
Washington Old Hall
Washington Manor, now known as
Washington Old Hall
Ancestral Home of George Washington