Ferdinando Gorges
Encyclopedia
Sir Ferdinando Gorges the "Father of English Colonization in North America
", was an early English
colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine
in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World
.
, England
, descended from a cadet branch of the Russells of Kingston Russell
, Dorset, which had changed its name to the metronymic Gorges, which family had died out in the male line on the death of Ralph de Gorges of Knighton, Isle of Wight
, 2nd Baron Gorges, in 1331 (See Gorges family
). In 1601, he became involved in the Essex Conspiracy and later testified against its leader, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
.
He entered the army at an early age and had obtained the rank of captain at the siege of Sluys in 1587, was a prisoner at Lisle in 1588, wounded at the siege of Paris in 1589 and knighted at the siege of Rouen in 1591. He was rewarded for his services by the post of Governor of the Fort at Plymouth, which he held for many years.
His interest in colonisation was invoked when Captain George Weymouth
presented him with three captured American Indians.
In 1605, he helped sponsor the expedition of Weymouth to the mouth of the Kennebec River
along the coast of the present day state of Maine
in the United States. In 1607, as a shareholder in the Plymouth Company
, he helped fund the failed Popham Colony
, near present-day Phippsburg, Maine
.
In 1622, Gorges received a land patent, along with John Mason, from the Plymouth Council for New England
for the Province of Maine, the original boundaries of which were between the Merrimack
and Kennebec rivers. In 1629, he and Mason divided the colony, with Mason's portion south of the Piscataqua River
becoming the Province of New Hampshire
. Gorges and his nephew established Maine's first court system.
Capt. Christopher Levett
, early English explorer of the New England Coast, was an agent for Gorges, as well as a member for the crown's Plymouth Council for New England. Levett
's attempt to establish a colony in Maine ultimately failed, and he died aboard ship returning to England after meeting with Governor John Winthrop
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
in 1630.
Ferdinando Gorges's son was Robert Gorges
, Governor-General of New England from 1623–1624. But Robert Gorges was seen with some suspicion by American colonists, who were skeptical of Gorges' almost feudal idea of governance and settlement, and ultimately Gorges returned to England.
In the 1630s Gorges attempted to revive the moribund claims of the Plymouth Company. In concert with colonists banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he formally questioned the issuance of its royal charter in 1632, and forwarded complaints and charges made by the disaffected colonists to the Privy Council
of Charles I
. His efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, although the animosity he began between the crown and the Massachusetts government eventually led to the repeal of its charter in 1684.
Ferdinando Gorges died a destitute man in 1647 and is buried in Long Ashton church. His eldest son, John, inherited his Province of Maine, of which Robert, his younger son, had been for such a short time Governor. Maine later fell under the control of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and 173 years later achieved statehood in 1820.
He had married four times. Firstly Ann, daughter of Edward Bell of Writtle, Essex, whom he married in 1589 at St. Margaret's, Westminster, and who died in 1620: they had two sons, John and Robert
, and two daughters, Ellen and Honoria, the last of whom died young. Secondly, in 1621, Mary, daughter of Thomas Fulford of Devon, and the widow of Thomas Achims of Pelint,Cornwall, Thirdly, in 1627, at Ladock, Cornwall, Elizabeth, daughter of Tristam Gorges of St. Budeaux, and widow of Edward Courteney and of William Bligh, (she died within a few weeks of the marriage). Fourthly, at Wraxall in 1629, Elizabeth Lady Smyth, daughter of Sir Thomas Gorges and the Marchioness of Northampton, and widow of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Court.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
", was an early English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colonial entrepreneur and founder of the Province of Maine
Province of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.
Biography
Gorges was born in Ashton Phillips, SomersetSomerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, descended from a cadet branch of the Russells of Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell is a large mansion house and manor near Long Bredy in Dorset, England, west of Dorchester. The present house dates from the late 17th century but in 1730 was clad in a white Georgian stone facade. The house was restored in 1913, and at the same time the gardens were laid out...
, Dorset, which had changed its name to the metronymic Gorges, which family had died out in the male line on the death of Ralph de Gorges of Knighton, Isle of Wight
Knighton, Isle of Wight
Knighton is a hamlet near to Sandown on the Isle of Wight.It is usually pronounced as Kay-nighton by local people, to avoid confusion with the larger, homophonic village of Niton, near Ventnor....
, 2nd Baron Gorges, in 1331 (See Gorges family
Gorges family
The House of Gorges is an ancient English family with Norman origins. Radulph, Lord of the Château de Gorges came over to England from Gorges in the canton of Périers in Normandy in the army of William the Conqueror in the year 1066 and acquired a knighthood. He had thus started the history of...
). In 1601, he became involved in the Essex Conspiracy and later testified against its leader, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...
.
He entered the army at an early age and had obtained the rank of captain at the siege of Sluys in 1587, was a prisoner at Lisle in 1588, wounded at the siege of Paris in 1589 and knighted at the siege of Rouen in 1591. He was rewarded for his services by the post of Governor of the Fort at Plymouth, which he held for many years.
His interest in colonisation was invoked when Captain George Weymouth
George Weymouth
George Weymouth was an English explorer of the area now occupied by the state of Maine. Ferdinando Gorges, who wanted to settle colonists in the area, sponsored an expedition under Weymouth, who sailed from England on March 5, 1605 on the ship Archangel and landed near Monhegan on May 17, 1605...
presented him with three captured American Indians.
In 1605, he helped sponsor the expedition of Weymouth to the mouth of the Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
along the coast of the present day state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in the United States. In 1607, as a shareholder in the Plymouth Company
Plymouth Company
The Plymouth Company was an English joint stock company founded in 1606 by James I of England with the purpose of establishing settlements on the coast of North America.The Plymouth Company was one of two companies, along with the London Company, chartered with such...
, he helped fund the failed Popham Colony
Popham Colony
The Popham Colony was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America that was founded in 1607 and located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Maine near the mouth of the Kennebec River by the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth...
, near present-day Phippsburg, Maine
Phippsburg, Maine
Phippsburg is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States, on the west side of the mouth of the Kennebec River. The population was 2,106 at the 2000 census. It is within the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical rea...
.
In 1622, Gorges received a land patent, along with John Mason, from the Plymouth Council for New England
Plymouth Council for New England
The Plymouth Council for New England was the name of a 17th century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America....
for the Province of Maine, the original boundaries of which were between the Merrimack
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
and Kennebec rivers. In 1629, he and Mason divided the colony, with Mason's portion south of the Piscataqua River
Piscataqua River
The Piscataqua River, in the northeastern United States, is a long tidal estuary formed by the confluence of the Salmon Falls and Cocheco rivers...
becoming the Province of New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
. Gorges and his nephew established Maine's first court system.
Capt. Christopher Levett
Christopher Levett
Capt. Christopher Levett was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first European to do so. Levett left behind a group of settlers at his Maine...
, early English explorer of the New England Coast, was an agent for Gorges, as well as a member for the crown's Plymouth Council for New England. Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
's attempt to establish a colony in Maine ultimately failed, and he died aboard ship returning to England after meeting with Governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop
John Winthrop was a wealthy English Puritan lawyer, and one of the leading figures in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the first large wave of migrants from England in 1630, and served as governor for 12 of...
in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
in 1630.
Ferdinando Gorges's son was Robert Gorges
Robert gorges
Robert Gorges was a Captain in the English navy and briefly Governor-General of New England from 1623 to 1624. He was the son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges...
, Governor-General of New England from 1623–1624. But Robert Gorges was seen with some suspicion by American colonists, who were skeptical of Gorges' almost feudal idea of governance and settlement, and ultimately Gorges returned to England.
In the 1630s Gorges attempted to revive the moribund claims of the Plymouth Company. In concert with colonists banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, he formally questioned the issuance of its royal charter in 1632, and forwarded complaints and charges made by the disaffected colonists to the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. His efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, although the animosity he began between the crown and the Massachusetts government eventually led to the repeal of its charter in 1684.
Ferdinando Gorges died a destitute man in 1647 and is buried in Long Ashton church. His eldest son, John, inherited his Province of Maine, of which Robert, his younger son, had been for such a short time Governor. Maine later fell under the control of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and 173 years later achieved statehood in 1820.
He had married four times. Firstly Ann, daughter of Edward Bell of Writtle, Essex, whom he married in 1589 at St. Margaret's, Westminster, and who died in 1620: they had two sons, John and Robert
Robert gorges
Robert Gorges was a Captain in the English navy and briefly Governor-General of New England from 1623 to 1624. He was the son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges...
, and two daughters, Ellen and Honoria, the last of whom died young. Secondly, in 1621, Mary, daughter of Thomas Fulford of Devon, and the widow of Thomas Achims of Pelint,Cornwall, Thirdly, in 1627, at Ladock, Cornwall, Elizabeth, daughter of Tristam Gorges of St. Budeaux, and widow of Edward Courteney and of William Bligh, (she died within a few weeks of the marriage). Fourthly, at Wraxall in 1629, Elizabeth Lady Smyth, daughter of Sir Thomas Gorges and the Marchioness of Northampton, and widow of Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton Court.
See also
- Fort GorgesFort GorgesFort Gorges is a United States military fort built on Hog Island Ledge in Casco Bay, Maine.-History:Following the War of 1812, the United States Army Corps of Engineers proposed that a fort be built on Hog Island Ledge, in Casco Bay at the entrance to the harbor at Portland, Maine...
- Capt. Christopher Levett, mentioned in History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 By William Bradford, Massachusetts