Kathryn Mae Gorton Thompson
The
Saxon Chronicle is a manuscript which was
painstakingly researched by Monks of the 10th Century and now dwells in the
British Museum. Emerging through the chronicles of History is one of the
Oldest Family Names. GORTON and the distinguished history of this Surname is
interwoven into the tapestry of the History of England. Historical analysts
have used many sources in the preparation of this history. Such as: The
Doomsday Book, The Ragman Rolls (1291-1296) The Curig Regis Rolls, The Pipe
Rolls, The Haerth Rolls, Parish Registers, Baptismals, Tax Records and other
ancient documents and found the first record of the name GORTON was in
Lancashire, England where they were seated from very ancient times some will
say, well before the Roman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William of
Hastings in 1066 A.D.
The Surname Gorton was found in the archives,
the name was sometimes revealed as Gorton, Gorten, Gortin, Gordon and these
changes in spelling occurred even between father and son. It was not
uncommon for a person to be born with one spelling variation, married with
another and for yet another, to appear on his gravestone. Scribes spelt the
name the way it sounded as it was told to them. From Century to Century
spellings changed. The Family name GORTON was found to be descended from the
SAXON RACE. The SAXONS were a fair skinned people led by the BROTHERS
GENERAL, Commanders Hengist and Hosa, who settled in England town about the
year 400 AD. They settled first on the South British Coast, coming from the
Rhine Valley. They spread north and westward from Kent and during the next
four hundred years forced the Ancient Britons back into Wales and Cornwall
to the West. Cumbria and Scotland to the north. The Angles held the Eastern
Coastline. The South folk in Suffolk, the North Folk, in Norfolk. Under
Anglo Saxon five century rule, the Nation divided into five separate
Kingdoms. A high King being elected as Supreme Ruler.
Alfred the
Great emerged in the 9th Century as the Saxon leader to dispel the Danish
Invasion. England by 1066 was led by Harold "The King of the Saxons" and was
enjoying reasonable Peace and Prosperity. The Norman Invasion from France
under Duke William of Normandy and their victory at the Battle of Hastings
found Saxon land owners to be forced to forfeit all of their lands. William
with an Army of 40,000 men drove north wasting all of the land in his path.
All of the Northern Counties were destroyed. Both rebellious Norman Nobles
and Saxons fled over the border into Scotland. Those Saxons who remained
were restive under Norman Rule. Many moved northward to the Midlands,
Lancashire, and Yorkshire where Norman influence prevailed less.
The
family name GORTON emerged as a Noble English Name in the County of
Lancashire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated at
Gorton Near Manchester, until the early 1900s there was still a part of
Manchester named Gorton, with manors and large estates in that area. One of
the earliest records is of Sir Thomas Gorton (I have this manuscript) from
the Manor Gorton. By the 13th Century the family had also acquired other
estates in the County of Lancashire and became one of the Middle Ages
Distinguished Lancastrian Families. The next two or three centuries found
the Surname Gorton flourishing and contributing greatly to the culture of
the British nation.
During 16, 17, and 18th Centuries, England was
ravaged by religious conflicts. Protestantism, the new found Political
fervor of Cromwellism and the remnants of the Roman Catholic Church rejected
all but the most ardent followers. As each group gained power during these
turbulent times many were burnt at the stake but many more were banished
from the land. They lost all their titles, estates and status. Many families
were truly encouraged to migrate to Ireland or to the Colonies. Some were
rewarded with grants of lands and others were indentured as servants for as
long as ten years.
In Ireland they became known as "The Adventurers
for Land in Ireland". They were also known as "Undertakers". There is no
evidence that the family name migrated to Ireland but this does not preclude
the possibility of their scattered migration to that country. These
unsettling times were disturbing and the new world beckoned the adventurous.
Some came voluntarily from Ireland, some by Army service, but most came
directly from England. Some moved to the European continent. Members of the
family name Gorton sailed aboard the armada of small ships know as "The
White Sails" which sailed the stormy Atlantic. These overcrowded ships were
pestilence ridden, sometimes up to 40% of the passenger lists never reached
their destinations. Their numbers decimated by sickness and the elements and
many were therefore buried at sea.
Included amongst the first
migrants who settled in North America was Samuel Gorton in 1637, John Gorton
Virginia in 1679, Steven Gorton in Virginia in 1635. Probably the most
notorious and prolific Gorton Ancestor on the New America Colonies shores
was Samuel Gorton. He and his wife Mary with the first two to three children
and Samuels' brother Thomas came over on the boat "The Speedwell" landing in
Boston in 1637. This Samuel is credited with being the first judge in the
new world, a fair main, religious zealot and he hated the persecution of
himself and his followers by the Puritans and was eventually banned by the
Massachusetts Bay Society. He wrote a charter and went back to England
presenting it to Parliament to gain his independence. Hence he lived in
peace eventually settling in Warwick RI. He founded that town and served for
many years on the Providence Plantations and General Assembly, Samuel Gorton
was one of the first Governors of Rhode Island. Many books have been written
about him. There is a 1907 Book by Adelos Gorton "The Life and Times of
Samuel Gorton", a 1980 book by Thomas Gorton "Samuel Gorton of Rhode Island
and His Descendents". These books included thousands of Gorton lines and
ancestors.
When Samuel came over to the Colonies, the southern coast
of Southern England was extremely overcrowded, near what is now Southampton,
England. Today there is a huge ferry station where the Mayflower took off
with ferries going back and forth to the Isle of Wight.
The new
settlers, as Samuel Gorton, upon arriving in the New America Colonies found
themselves yearning to see this vast land. The east coast of the Colonies
were so overcrowded that from the port of entry on this coast, many settlers
started trekking their way west. The Gorton name spread in the Americas.
They were granted lands along the banks of the St. Lawrence River and the
Niagara Peninsula. Samuel Gorton was great friends of the Indians and was
granted most of the lands that are now the state of Rhode Island from the
great Indian Chief Miantonomo. This is called the Showamet Purchase.
The Surname Gorton includes some very distinguished people. Including John
Gorton is a famous Australian Politician. Slade Gorton was a Senator in
Washington State in the U.S. Samuel Slade Gorton founded the huge company
The Gorton Fisheries in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Thomas and Slade Gorton
are very famous Gorton lawyers. Sir Thomas Gorton of England. There are
approximately 5,500 people that have the Surname Gorton that live in the
United States. The Gorton Coat of Arms is granted from an ancient grant to
the family and it is described as Red with Gold Squares and a Gold Stripe
across the top. Above the squares is the Head of a Goat symbolizing
strength.
1999 Kathryn Mae Gorton Thompson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kathryn Mae Gorton Thompson is from upstate New York and is a direct
descendant of Samuel Gorton. Her line is: Samuel, John, John, William,
William, Joseph, William, Warren, Edward, Edward, Kathryn. She started her
genealogy research in 1972, and currently has thirty-three other Gorton
cousins on the internet and sends out a bimonthly Gorton newsletter and so
far has matched together thirteen families from the Gorton line.
David Rees Gorton's direct descendant line is: Samuel, Benjamin, Samuel,
Benjamin, Thomas, Benjamin, Job, George, Rees, Henry Clay, David Rees.