Comments on: Worthington Descendants – Vol 1, No 2, Page 1 – From the Editors http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/worthington-descendants-vol-1-no-2-page-1-from-the-editors/ Worthy To Bear The Dignity Of Ones Ancestors Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:26:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Stuart Worthington http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/worthington-descendants-vol-1-no-2-page-1-from-the-editors/#comment-219 Sat, 12 Dec 2009 15:06:05 +0000 http://worthy2be.wordpress.com/?p=323#comment-219 A ‘side view’ closed helmet does NOT signify warrior: it signifies ‘Esquire’. An open ‘face on’ helmet with a raised grill signifies a baronet or knight. A ‘side view’ helmet with a grill in front of the eyespace signifies a peer … and a ‘face on’ helmet with a grill signifies king or prince.

Re the name ‘Worthington’: it probably derives from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Weordinga tun’, meaning the estate of the Weordinga family. “inga” is the genitive plural of ‘son’, so the original member of the family was Weord. Another theory is that “Worthing” is a derivation of old English “Wording” of “Wordig”, meaning enclosure … or of “Wyrding”, meaning a cultivated field. Yet another view is that the surname has evolved from ‘the enclosure of Worpa’.

The Worthingtons were not Normans. Being known as Worthington de Worthington in the early days was because the official language of the court (and therefore of legal documents etc.) was Norman French. The family may even have been descended from Vikings.

Stuart Worthington December 2009

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