Hamfast Gamgee, known to all Hobbiton as the Gaffer, was Sam's father and for many years the gardener at Bag End. He lived at Number 3, Bagshot Row, under the Hill, and was the acknowledged authority on the growing of vegetables, potatoes above all.1
In the talk at the Ivy Bush before Bilbo's farewell party, the old gardener stood up for his master against the gossip about Bilbo's oddness and his hidden treasure, and told the story of how Frodo's parents had drowned in the Brandywine. He remarked that Mr Bilbo had taught Sam his letters, meaning no harm, and he hoped no harm would come of it.1
When a Black Rider came to Hobbiton asking for Baggins, it was the Gaffer who answered it. He told the stranger that Mr Baggins had gone away to "Bucklebury or some such place", and Sam brought word of the meeting to Frodo on the night they set out.2
In the Mirror of Galadriel Sam saw Bagshot Row being dug up and his old father going down the Hill with his things on a barrow. It was true: under Lotho's rule the row was torn up and the Gaffer turned out of his home, and he was one of the first things Sam asked after when the hobbits came back to the Shire.3,4
Tolkien's note on the family's names explains Hamfast as an old word for a stay-at-home, translating a Westron name of the same meaning.5
Sources
Citations name the chapter rather than the page, so they work in any edition. The colour of each note shows what kind of source it is.
- Published story The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as Tolkien published them.
- Appendices Tolkien's own appendices to The Lord of the Rings.
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 1, “A Long-expected Party”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 3, “Three is Company”
- Published story The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. 7, “The Mirror of Galadriel”
- Published story The Return of the King, Book VI, ch. 8, “The Scouring of the Shire”
- Appendices The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F, II, “On Translation”