The Barnstable Gorhams: The Old House in which they lived, and their services in the Colonial Wars, A Paper read 6 February, 1895, at a Court of the Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massacusetts. by Francis "Frank" William Sprauge, Esq., b. 1842

-printed for private distribution, Boston, 1896

-re-printed New England Historical and Genealogical Register, January 1896

Text of the Last Two Sections Explaining the Original of the Gorham Name

"CHATEAU DE GORRON"

While making a trip through northern France, in July, 1891, I visited Gorron ("Gorram"). It is in the Province of Maine, about twelve miles from the city of Mayenne, nine miles from the railroad, and is a quiet little farming village. Very near the While Pigeon Hotel stand the ruins of the ancient "Chateau de Gorron," built in 1199. Enough remains to show the outlines of it. Houses and shops have been built so close to the old walls that from the road and little stream running through its grounds not much can be seen, except the fragments of one corner tower that stands perhaps forty feet high, topped by a modern roof, and contains two rooms; the lower one with its ancient fireplace has never been restored, the upper room being the only one now used. A small portion of another corner remains, only a rough ivy-covered wall.

At la Tannière, I was shown the site of an earlier "Chateau de Gorron," which is now occupied by a modern church.

"Giles de Gorham, son of William, took the cross from the hands of William Bishop of Mans, in company with Geoffrey, son of Juhell II., Lord of Mayenne, and one hundred and eight other knights, in the Church of St. Mary of Mayenne, A.D. 1158. He returned with only thirty-five of his company from the Holy Land, November 7, 1162, the rest having died in Sinai for the faith. In this latter year, probably as a pious acknowledgement of his preservation from the Infidels, he made grants to Savigny Abbey of lands in la Tannière."

(A fac-similie of his seal, representing a knight in armor, is given by Rev. George C. Gorham, in his notes, vol. v.)

ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL AND GORHAMBURY HOUSE

"Some of this family must have followed the Conqueror into England; for, at the time of the Domesday survey, 'William, son of Gorham,' was a tenant of land in Cippenhall, near Fresinggfield, Suffolk, held of Hervey of Bourdeaux."

"The de Gorrams can be traced in Brittany to the beginning of the twelfth century. Their castle was situated on a small rivulet called the Futaye, at la Tannière, seven miles west from the town of Gorram ("from which place doubtless the family name orginated") and twenty miles northwest from Mayenne."

"The castle of Gorram, now called Gorron, was granted in 1135 by Geoffrey Plantagenet, to Jubel II., Lord of Mayenne."

"Geoffrey de Gorham was descended from a noble family of Caen, Normandy. He was sixteenth Abbott of St. Albans, Hertfordshire. He was elected Abbott, A.D. 1119. He built the (first) Manor House in Gorhambury park. His tomb is in St. Alban's Cathedral.

"John de Gorham, the last of the Hertfordshire family of that name, who possessed the manor of Gorhambury. In 1807 the aforesaid John and his wife, Isabella, sold the revision (after the decease of the survivor of either). The estate of Gorhambury thus passed out of the Gorham family, which appears to have been extinct in Hertfordshire in the early part of the fourteenth century. Gorhambury continued iwth the Abbey of St. Alban till the dissolution. It was granted by Henry VIII. to Ralph Rowlette, Esq. From him it passed to Sir Nicholas Bacon, father of Lord Bacon. It is now owned by the Earl of Verulam. It is situated in the midst of a beautifl park, and contains a good collection of portraits.

William de Gorham, the last possessor of that name of the manor of Churchfield, in the parish of Oundle, Northamptonshire, was living in 1338."

"Oundle is very near Benefield, the place from which John Gorham emigrated to Pylmounth, Mass., in 1635. "He came in the Philip, Capt. Richard Morgan."

Authorities- "Northampton Wills, from 1510 to 1520, book A, page 161, will of Richard Gorham." "Collectanea Topographia et Genealogica, vols. v., vi., viii." "Clutterbuck's Hstory of Hertfordshire." "Disctionnaire de la France, Department of Mayenne." "Rev. George C. Gorham, B.D., Minister of Maidenhead Parish" (1839 - 1841).

This page last updated 19 NOV 2004.

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