The Gorton Name

The surname Gorton is thought to be derived from the township name of Gorton in the Parish of Manchester, Lancashire, England. It is unlikely that there was ever a single John or Thomas Gorton from whom all the others are descended. It is more likely that, in early times, various unrelated individuals moved from Gorton into other areas and were known as John or Thomas of Gorton. Their descendants eventually dropped the "of" and became simply John or Thomas Gorton. By 1538, when Thomas Cromwell ordered registers of  baptisms, marriages and burials to be kept, the name Gorton had become a patronymic (passed on from a father to his children) and distinct families could be found in the Wigan, Preston and Manchester (particularly at Gorton, Droylesden and Clayton) districts of Lancashire.

A Thomas de Gorton was entered in the subsidy rolls for Lancashire in 1332. A fine paid for writs (often for the transfer of land) was raised, at Lancaster, on Friday next after the Assumption, 9 Henry V (22nd August, 1421), between John de Byrkhed and Thomas de Gorton, plaintiffs, and John, son of Peter Gerard, knight, and Ellen, his wife, deforciants of the manors of Asphull and Wigan, with the appurtenances, and of 15 messuages, 140 acres of land, 20 acres of meadow, 10 acres of wood, 1200 acres of moor ad 100s2d of rent inWeryngton, Wygan, Asphull, Ince, Goldburn and Assheton near Wygan. John, son of Peter, and Ellen remitted all rights to John de Birkhed and Thomas and to the heirs of Thomas for ever, for which John de Birkhed and Thomas gave them 300 marks.

As mentioned above, the legal requirement to maintain parish registers was not introduced until 1538 and some parishes did not start immediately or early registers have been lost. In the Preston area, early baptisms recorded include Elizabeth Gorton, daughter of John at Brindle on 10th March 1559 and Alicia daughter of Thomas Gorton at Blackburn on 29th August 1602. In the Preston Roll of the Guild Merchant for 1642, Jacobus (James) Gorton de Walton is "admitted a free Burgesse of this Incorporation and if hee come to inhabite within the Towne then to receive the priviledge and benefitt of a townes borne Burgesse but if hee doo not come to inhabite within the Towne then to receive noe further or other Libertie and benefitt than of a forreigne Burgesse onlie."  At Manchester Collegiate Church (now Cathedral), the earliest recorded Gorton baptism is that of Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Gorton, on 6th December 1574.

I have seen the town name Gorton described as meaning "dirt settlement" from the Old English roots gor and tun. To me, a more likely explanation is based on the fact that through Gorton passes a stream or small river called the Gore Brook. This stream is still red or orange in colour due to the iron salts in the water and it is thought that the name Gore Brook is derived from the red or blood (gore) colour. Gorton is thus the settlement, or town, on the red or blood (dirty!) coloured stream.

In the 19th century, Gorton became part of the larger city of Manchester and became known as a centre for heavy engineering and the railway industry. Gorton was one of the principle British railway depots and engine works.

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