Background
Born in January 1605, Gorges was son of Sir Edward and Dorothy Speke Gorges, and nephew of Sir Edward"s younger brother, Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
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William Gorges
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He was then appointed as Governor of the Province of New Somersetshire, a grant Sir Ferdinando obtained from the Council of New England when its territories were divided up in 1635. Sir Ferdinando later regretted this action, saying that Cleeve had deceived him. The result was that this effort to impose formal government and thereby further his private interests failed.
Once back in England, William Gorges wrote that he had been "disappointed of my.
. voyage." What he did next is not clear. The death of the proprietor of the province, Sir Ferdinando, occurring in 1647, and nothing being heard from Governor William Gorges, the inhabitants of Kittery, Gorgeana, Wells, and probably the Isle of Shoals, met in convention at Gorgeana, and formed themselves into a confederacy for mutual protection and just administration of the government, and Edward Godfrey, one of Governor Gorges" councilors, was chosen governor.
Gorges died in February 1658 in Keynsham, England, and the location of his interment is unknown.
