GORGES, gOrles, Sir FERDINANDO (c.1566 1647). An English military officer, Governor for many years of Plymouth, England, and lord pro prietary of the Province of Maine; sometimes called 'the father of English colonization in America.' He was born probably in Ashton Phil lips, England. entered the army, served in Nor mandy in 1591, distinguished himself and was knighted at the siege of _Rouen, and afterwards for many years was 'Governor of the forts and island of Plymouth.' He seems to have been en gaged in the conspiracy led by the Earl of Essex, against whom he was witness in the trial of 1601. Becoming early interested in the settlement of the New World, he was one of the grantees in the royal charter of 1606, and was one of the founders of the unsuccessful Popham Colony in Maine in 1607. Capt. John Smith, as agent for Gorges, made several unsuccessful attempts to es tablish other settlements; and in 1616 Gorges sent out a small party which encamped for the winter on the river Saco. In 1620 Gorges and his associates obtained a new charter, which gave them title to the territory between the 40th and 48th parallels north latitude, extending westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Gorges and John Mason, in August, 1622, took from the Council for New England a grant of the district lying between the Merrimac and the Kennebec and extending from the Atlantic to the 'river of Canada'; and under the auspices of the former, several settlements were made. In 1629 Gorges received a grant of the so-called Territory of Laconia, as to which it was reported non est inventa. in 1623 Capt. Robert Gorges,
on of Ferdinando, was appointed by vote of tho Council for New England 'General Governor of the country.' Twelve years later, however, the coun cil resigned the charter to the King, the elder Gorges expecting to be thereupon appointed Governor-General. Disappointed in this, he in duced the King to grant him a charter constitut ing him lord proprietary of the Province of Maine, and providing that his office should re main hereditary in his family. His son. Thomas, was sent out as Deputy Governor. The principal settlements were Agamenticus and Saco, the former being the Place now called York. which was chartered as a city in 1642 under the name of Gorgeana. In 1643 the four New' England colonies formed an alliance for mutual defense, excluding therefrom the Gorges settlements. Af ter the death of Gorges, the settlements estab lished by him formed themselves into a body politic, and submitted to the jurisdiction of Mas sachusetts. Gorges wrote A Briefe Narration of the Originall Undertakings of time Advancement of Plantations into the Parts of America. espe cially showing the Beginning, Progress and Con tinnanee of That of New England (165S), which has been much used by historians, and may be found in volume ii. of the Maine Historical So ciety Collections (Portland), and in series 3, volume vi. of the Massachusetts Historical Society Collections. Consult Baxter (ed.), Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine (3 vols., Bos ton, 1890), one of the 'Prince Society Publica tions.'