Ham (; pcd, Hin) is a commune in the

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 in

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...

, 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 A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

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 A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...

, 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

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, 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 Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

Twin towns