Withers (surname)


Withers – earlier Wither, Wyther – is an English surname of Old English origin. It is today a not uncommon family name found throughout the Anglosphere.

History

The name appears on various early documents in England, such as a charter of Æthelred II in 1005 where a witness signs as "Ego Ƿiþer minister". In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is the name of a tenant prior to that date. It seems to be a personal name, rather than a place name or occupational name, of unknown meaning: suggestions have included "wood", "withstand", "warrior" or "willow".
While the name occurs in connection with landholdings in various counties of England before the 1150s, the first continuous record of a family seems to be in Lancashire and Cheshire where Sir Robert Wither, knight, of Pendleton and of Halton, was seneschal to Roger de Lacy, who died in 1211. He is recorded as marrying Joan, daughter of Sir Adam Bostock, knight, of Davenham.
By the 15th century, families claiming descent from Sir Robert Wither were living in Cheshire, Lancashire, Wiltshire, Essex, London, Somerset and Hampshire. The Withers in Hampshire, deriving from a member who migrated from Lancashire in the 14th century, were particularly prominent. From 1484, they were lords of the manor of Manydown near Wootton St Lawrence, remaining linked to that estate for more than 400 years.

Coat of arms

One Withers was granted a coat of arms. In the reign of Queen Mary I, Sir Richard Withers of East Sheen received a coat registered in the College of Arms, London. The blazon has "Argent, a chevron gules between three crescents sable". The traditional family motto is "I grow and wither both together".

Notable people named Withers, Wither, or Wyther

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