- Ferdinando Gorges
Sir Ferdinando Gorges (1565–1647) was an early English colonial entrepreneur inNorth America and founder of theProvince of Maine in 1622, although Gorges himself never set foot in theNew World .Gorges was born in
Ashton Phillips ,Somerset ,England . In 1601, he became involved in theEssex Conspiracy and later testified against its leader, Robert Devereux.In 1605, he helped sponsor the expedition of
George Weymouth to the mouth of theKennebec River along the coast of the present day state ofMaine in the United States. In 1607, as a shareholder in thePlymouth Company , he helped fund the failedPopham Colony , near present-dayPhippsburg, 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 thePiscataqua River becoming theProvince of New Hampshire . Gorges and his nephew established Maine's first court system.Christopher Levett , early English explorer of the New England Coast, was an agent for Gorges, as well as a member for the crown's Council for New England. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=rQsQAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37&dq=levett+dorchester&lr=&ei=v2rZSJaELY6IswPlpujeDg York Deeds, Maine Historical Society, Maine Genealogical Society, John T. Hull, Portland, 1887] ]Levett 's attempt to establish a colony in Maine ultimately failed, and he died aboard ship returning to England after meeting with GovernorJohn Winthrop in theMassachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.Gorges died a destitute man in 1647. Maine later fell under the control of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony and achieved statehood in 1820.References
ee also
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Fort Gorges
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=mGcOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA328&lpg=PA328&dq=levett+england&source=web&ots=NE3YhgV9eG&sig=GHzAmtGHdOuD-5zPx1jXAxT1ARw Capt. Christopher Levett] , mentioned in "History of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647 By William Bradford, Massachusetts"
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