Page 26 - Family History

Miscellaneous

Gorton Coat of Arms

This notable surname is of Anglo-
Saxon origin, and is a locational name
from Gorton, a former parish in the

borough, and south east of, the city of
Manchester in Lancashire. Recorded as
"Gorton" in the "Inquisitiones post
mortem", dated 1282, the component
elements of the placename are the Olde
English pre 7th Century "gor", dirt,

and "tun", enclosure, settlement. Gore
Brook, containing the same initial
elements, runs though the township,
and it is likely that both the settlement
and brook were named from the murky

waters of the latter. Locational
surnames, such as this, were originally
given to local landowners, and the lord of the manor, and especially as a means
of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. On October
20th 1563, John, son of Richard Gorton, was christened at St. Margaret's,
Westminster, London, and on March 17th 1571, Jhon Gorton was christened in

Kirkburton, Yorkshire. Early namebearers to settle in America were Steven
Gorton, aged 35 yrs., who embarked from London on the ship "Safety" bound
for Virginia, in August 1635, and Samuel Gorton, of Gorton, Lancashire, who
went to New England in 1636, and subsequently lived at Boston and New
Plymouth. A Coat of Arms granted to the Gorton family is a red shield with ten

gold billets and a chief indented of the last, the Crest being a silver goat's head
erased, ducally gorged gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is
shown to be that of John Gorton, which was dated March 18th 1563, christened
at Brindle, Lancashire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good
Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments
introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax.

Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to
"develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Reference: https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Gorton#ixzz6IfU5L3jb

26