Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
*Somme, Queensland, Australia
*Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), a ...
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...
, northern France.
Geography
Ham is situated on the D930 and D937 crossroads, some southwest of Saint-Quentin, in the far southeast of the department, near the border with the department of the
Aisne
Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Ham (Somme) station has rail connections to Amiens, Saint-Quentin and Laon. The nearby villages of Estouilly and Saint-Sulpice joined the commune of Ham in 1965 and 1966 respectively.
Population
The population data given in the table and graph below for 1962 and earlier refer to the commune of Ham excluding Estouilly and Saint-Sulpice.
History
Mentioned for the first time in 932 as a possession of the seigneur Erard, junior member of the Counts of Ponthieu. The town was later conquered by the Counts of Vermandois in the 12th century. In the 14th century it was owned by a family from Ham itself. From April 7 to June 3, 1917, Ham was home to the Lafayette Escadrille
The Castle of Ham
The first stone ramparts were put up in the 13th century by the local nobleman, Odon IV.
In the 15th century, the château was transformed into a formidable fortress by John II of Luxembourg, Count of Ligny.
In 1465, John's nephew, Louis of Luxembourg, built a huge donjon, 33m high, 33m in diameter with walls 11m thick.''Ham, its castle and its prisoners'', Charles Gomart, 1864, réédition "La Vague Verte" en 2000.
In 1917, German forces blew up much of the château. All that remains are the entrance tower and vestiges of the donjon and ramparts.
Personalities
*
Francis de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol
Francis I de Bourbon, Count of St. Pol, Duke of Estouteville (6 October 1491 – 1 September 1545), was a French prince and important military commander during the Italian Wars.
Francis was the second son of Francis, Count of Vendôme and Mar ...
, Duke of Estouteville was born at Ham in 1491
* General Maximilien Sebastien Foy was born at Ham in 1775
*
Jacques Cassard
Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer.
Biography
Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his fa ...
, intrepid sailor, was imprisoned at the château of Ham from 1726 to 1740.
* Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, accused of plotting against the state, was imprisoned at the château of Ham from 1840 to 1846, when he escaped, disguised as a worker, carrying a plank on his shoulder.
* Léon Accambray, French politician
*
Jean-Charles Peltier
Jean Charles Athanase Peltier (; ; 22 February 1785 – 27 October 1845) was a French physicist. He was originally a watch dealer, but at the age of 30 began experiments and observations in physics.
Peltier was the author of numerous papers in d ...
, physicist and meteorologist
* Jean-Baptiste-Henri du Trousset de Valincourt (1643–1730), biographer of Louis XIV