The name Gooers reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Gooers family as they migrated following the
Norman Conquest of 1066. The Gooers family lived in the district north of Paris which is known in Old French as Gohiere. There are also numerous places in
Normandy called
Gouy, to which the Anglo-Norman French suffix
er was added to make "Gower."
Early Origins of the Gooers family
The surname Gooers was first found in
Yorkshire, where a family of Gower, ancestors of the Duke of
Sutherland, held a
family seat in Stittenham Township. "Descended from Sir Nicholas Gower, knight of the shire for this county in the reign of Edward III., and seated at Stittenham from about the same period." Another reference is more specific, "All of Antiquities agree that this family is one of the oldest in the county of York, though they differ as to its patriarch, whom some say will have to be Sir Alan Gowers, said to be sheriff of that county at the time of the
Norman Conquest, while others with greater probability assert that it descended from on Guhyer, whose son, called William Fitz-Guher of Stittenham, was charged with a mark for his lands in the sheriff's account in 1167."
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lowe, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print. It is generally agreed that Gower the Poet was from the Stittenham stock.
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lowe, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print. Today Stittenham is a township in the parish of Sheriff with as few as 92 inhabitants in the late 1800s.
[2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Early History of the Gooers family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gooers research.
Another 537 words (38 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1195, 1198, 1130, 1347, 1330, 1408, 1365, 1543, 1577, 1585, 1638, 1711, 1726, 1780, 1742, 1814, 1767, 1833 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Gooers History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Gooers Spelling Variations
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of
spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Gower, Gowers, Gowar, Gowars, Goward, Gore, Goher, Gurr, Goer and many more.
Early Notables of the Gooers family (pre 1700)
Notable amongst the family at this time was Henry Gower, a bishop of St. David's around 1347; John Gower
(c. 1330-1408), an English poet and acquired the Lordship of Aldington,
Kent in 1365, He was probably nephew and heir-male of Sir Robert Gower of
Kent, remembered mainly for three long poems...
Another 124 words (9 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gooers Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Gooers family to Ireland
Some of the Gooers family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 61 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Gooers family to the New World and Oceana
Because of the political and religious discontent in
England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Gooers name or one of its variants: Thomas Gower, who settled in Virginia in 1606; Richard Gower, who settled in Virginia in 1637; Nicholas Gower, who settled in Virginia in 1638; John Gower, who settled in Virginia in 1653.
The Gooers Motto
The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.
Motto: Frangas non flectes
Motto Translation: Thou may'st break, but shalt not bend me.