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WELCOME TO THE HISTORY OF THE GEMPTON FAMILY

My name is Cliff Gempton and I was born in Brixham, in the South West of England, in 1950. The purpose of this website is to document the history of our family name for the benefit of current and future generations.Our grandson Charlie (Charles) Gempton was the latest addition to our family,born in 2014 in Miami, USA. We can currently trace his ancestry back 12 generations to 1630. (see 12 Generations page)

My G.G Grandfather Joseph (b 1824), G. Grandfather John (b 1856) and Grandfather James (Jim) Henry Gempton (b1892) were fishermen. As owners and skippers of sailing trawlers they played their part in an industry that thrived in Brixham throughout the 1800's and early 1900's. Joseph Gempton appears in early census reports as a fisherman, fish merchant and Master of the Brixham Navigation School. He was listed as the owner of the Lively, Sabrina, Liberty & Esmeralda - early sailing trawlers. By 1850, Brixham was the largest fishery in England with 270 sailing vessels employing 1600 seamen.Their trawlers were built to a unique design in the local shipyards of J.W & A Upham , Dewdney & Sons, R Jackman and Sons, Furneaux's and Richardson's together with W.A. Gibbs and J. Sanders at Galmpton Creek on the River Dart. Fishermen from Brixham plied their trade in the waters around the coast of Britain and the Channel Islands. Many of the fishing families were joined by marriage and the Gempton's forged links with the Blackmore, Holland, Johnson, Mills, Mudge, Pillar, Pocock, Sanders, Upham, Vittery families and many others.

From our origins in the village of Galmpton , skilled fisherman and their families sailed away from Brixham to join the fishing communities of Grimsby, Hull and Lowestoft whilst other Gempton families emigrated to New Zealand, Australia, the USA & Canada in search of an alternative way of life. All "Gemptons" world wide share the same ancestral roots.

BM45 - Pilgrim, is a gaff rigged sailing trawler built in 1895 by J.W & A. Upham for Silas John Pine. Restoration started in 2011 and she remains one of only six (5 restored in theU.K.) out of the 300+ original Brixham trawlers. Other restored trawlers are Leader , Vigilance (BM76), Provident (BM28) and Golden Vanity (built as a gentleman's yacht along the same lines as a trawler but was never used as a fishing vessel.)

Efforts are still being made to secure the funding for the restoration of the Torbay Lass. (Update Oct 2015 - funding efforts have not succeeded) . See Update November 2020 below.

There are 3 other restored Brixham Sailing Trawlers in other parts of Europe :- Deodar, Boy Leslie & Ethel von Brixham (was Lily & Ethel when built)

In 1933, Uphams Yard built 2 more boats, Our Boy and Charmian along the lines of their Sailing Trawlers. As this time signalled the end of the Sailing Trawler era, they were fitted out as yachts so never had to undergo the rigors of fishing and hauling trawls. Like the other Sailing Trawlers they have been restored over the years and continue to sail the seas as a tribute to the skills of their original craftsmen.

Pilgrim is currently berthed in Brixham and in the summer of 2014,I had the pleasure of taking a trip on her to try to get a feeling of what my ancestors considered home for a large part of their working lives.

Updated October 2019:- The Trinity Sailing Foundation of Brixham, owners of Leader, Provident and Golden Vanity have announced that, after 20 years, they are no long able to fund their charitable foundation resulting in the sailing trawlers being put up for sale to enable their continued survival as working ships. Provident is currently listed for sale at £180,000, by International Yacht Brokers - Wooden Ships of Dartmouth with Leader being listed for sale at £240,000.

Updated October 2020:- Golden Vanity has been listed as "SOLD" for £50,000 on the Heritage Boats UK website. Golden Vanity has been purchased by First Class Sailing based in Southampton and will be part of their Sailing School Fleet for the 2021 season. Currently undergoing a winter refit at the Elephant Boatyard in Southampton.

Updated November 2020:- Torbay Lass. Taken from the Heritage Marine Foundation site in Malden, Essex. "We are delighted to announce that H.M.F has been selected to receive Culture Recovery Funding which will go towards putting Torbay Lass into a drydock and stabilising her as she awaits further funding to complete a full restoration. The funding brings us one step closer to making that goal a reality and we are glad the government recognises we are #HereForCulture".

Updated March 2022:- Leader. Northern Ireland sailing charity, Silver Light Sailing, have announced they have received a National Lottery Grant of £245,000 to aquire Leader and will be based in Newry, Northern Ireland.

Updated May 2022:- Provident. The new owners are Angels Shore Sailing Holidays based in Scotland. They will be running sailing cruises, from 2023, around he Scottish Islands.

Photos of my grandfather James (Jim) Henry Gempton 1892-1980

The first photo above was found in an album rescued from a "builder's skip" and handed in to the Brixham Heritage Museum. It shows my grandfather, still working at the age of 64, in 1956 employed as a rigger working on the replica of the Mayflower(2) being built in Upham's Yard, Brixham. The other photos show him helping to adjust the rigging and deadeyes.

Mayflower 1

The original Mayflower berthed in Dartmouth, at Bayards Cove on the west bank of the River Dart, for urgent repairs to her sister ship Speedwell. They were there from August 23rd to 31st 1620. After leaving Dartmouth, the Speedwell was still found to be unseaworthy and they put into Plymouth where the Pilgrim Fathers decided to abandon the leaky vessel and continue in the Mayflower alone on their historic voyage destined for the USA to escape religious persecution as their views were not compatible with the changing face of religion in the UK. (see Mayflower 11 tab)

May 2015

I have been contacted by Mickaela Jade Gempton who lives with her brother Jack, father Stephen Charles and mother Helen in Victoria, Australia. She came across the web site whilst researching the "Gempton" family name. Her Grandfather, Kenneth was my 5th Cousin and was part of the Hull based family headed by his father, Alfred William Gempton, that emigrated to Australia in 1952 aboard the ship "Ranchi". (see Australian Gemptons)

March 2017

Made contact with Shilo Gempton who lives with her husband Marc in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her father Shaun was 5 when his family emigrated to Australia in 1952. At the age of 18 he went to Canada and married his wife Irene and they currently live in British Columbia.

August 2017

Whilst not a big fan of social media, I found that there were many Gempton's listed on Facebook that I have not heard of before! Made contact with Shirley & Desmond Gempton who helped add members of their family. Through contact with Sarah Jan Gempton, I was put in touch with her father Paul Gempton and his wife Jan who had a lot of information on the family tree and was able to compare notes.

April 2018

Paul's brother Brian & his wife Helen, from New Zealand, visited Brixham and I was happy to shown them around, giving them an idea of where the family lived and how they went about their business as fishermen.

November 2018

Contacted on Ancestry.com by Kelsie Gempton who tells me that her g.grandfather Raymond is 96 years old and lives in Levin, N.Z. I believe that makes him the oldest living Gempton.

How is this for a coincidence?

The front windows of Brixham Heritage Museum are a collage of photos relating to the history of Brixham. How could the person who put these 2 photos together realise that the Bootmaker is William John Elliott (b.1898) my maternal grandfather and the other photo is James Henry Gempton (on the left wearing the cap, b.1892) my paternal grandfather !!!! The sign hangs above the bootmakers shop display inside the museum.