| Show the have been ances eleanor lexington earliest mention of the THE name whitney is in book in 1086 it was spelled Wit enic the family came from the town of whitney on the river wye which is the boundary between england and wales in the appearance of the river is a suggestion of the derivation of the name from the anglo saxon awit white and cy water white water the name has been spelled in a variety of ways Wit tency Wi teney wydene Wyte neye why tenbye and it was at first written with dc of whitney meaning one of the town of whitney the last to use this form was robert de he was ofle of the small but chosen retinue of english nobles who accompanied the duke of clarence son of edward III when he went to milan to his bride violanta daughter of prince Galea sius so magnificent was the reception given to the english duke and KO prodigal the feasting that the nobles returned to england so it is recorded with impaired digestion through manuscripts in the british museum the whitney family can prove relationship with alfred edmund ironsides william the conqueror the lenry II 11 and henry III to say nothing of members of the royal houses of scotland france and spain with whom these were allied the grant of a free warren in I 1 hereford county was made by edward I 1 to Eustach ms dc Wy tency our dearly beloved and faithful knight he held one manor by the service of one foot soldier with a bow and arrow in time of war thomas whitney for his valor at dagincourt agincourt Agin court received valuable grants of land he also held a curious tenure a manor in return for which he was to render a crossbow cross bow every st johns day clifford castle famous as the birthplace of fair rosamond rose of the world is part of the whitney estate two members of the whitney family suffered from being born too late and were condemned for doing what in earlier times would have gained for them only praise they were captain james whitney the gentleman highwayman and a prototype of captain tom baggus in lorna coonc and captain thomas whitney the latter started out with the of intentions and was commander of the chip encounter th elargest of sir walter Ra leighs fleet which went in search of el dorado disgusted with the failure of this expedition whitney turned pirate the puritan emigrant was john whitney a relative of the robert whitney who married anne daughter of sir thomas lucy who prosecuted shakespeare for poaching and was lampooned by him in revenge as justice shallow robert and anne hd twelve children john whitney the settler came over in 1635 in the ship elizabeth and ann he brought his wife elinor and five tons they settled in watertown mass thirty years later came henry whitney who settled in connecticut the cys ot colonial times were person importance and to i many were granted prominent scabs scats i in the meetinghouse meeting house the fore seat wun in some cases this was considered a mark of distinction one of the heroes of he revolution was general josiah whitney and abraham chiny Vh iny helped paul revere spread the news of the landing of the british although his exploits on that memorable night have been celebrated in song and story captain joshua whitney was another revolutionary soldier and samuel whitney was at valley forge with washington that he rescued the commander in chiefs horse from the mite and received the personal thanks of the owner was a story that he always liked to repeat to his children he was alo in the concord fight john whitney Whit ncy of harvard received from the citizens of bolton westchester in consideration for engaging in the continental service for three years for us eighteen calves of middling what the great did to make russia dominant eli whitneys Whit in of alic cotton am has in thaia equaled in Us relation to the power and progress of the united states was Macau lays tribute to one of the distinguished members of the family A famous geologist was josiah whitney Whit ncy in whose honor the highest peak m the united states is named mi whitney ilic whitney coat of arms registered in the college of arms is a cross cheeky or and rules crest a bulls head sable armed ar bent point gules one whitney shield displays sixteen quarte rings another sixty four the legend which explains the crest it that sir randolph de whitney accompanied compa nied richard coeur de lion to the crusaded Cru sadei and was distinguished for his great strength and courage being attacked by the brother of saladin whom he had twice defeated and two saracena saracens Sara cens he ans defending himself as well as he could when a near the scene attracted by the red dress of the saracena saracens Sara cens attacked them and they fled attributing his deliverance to the protection of the virgin he built a chapel in england to which he gave the name out lady of palestine oratory the walls still stand on grounds adjoining the family estate the motto used by some branches of the family is cru cem edstine sd stine nobly bear or sustain the cross |
