We have used precise photometric and high-dispersion spectroscopic observations to study 11 gamma Doradus stars, 10 of them newly confirmed. Only five of these 11 gamma Doradus stars appear to be single; two are primaries of double-lined spectroscopic binaries, one is the secondary of a double-lined binary, two are primaries of visual binaries and, in the case of the double-lined binary (HD 86371), either or both components could be a pulsating gamma Doradus star. We have determined a preliminary orbital period of 5.32 days for the double-lined binary HD 41547. Several of the stars show spectroscopic line-profile and low-amplitude radial velocity variability indicative of pulsation. All 11 stars are photometrically variable with amplitudes between 4 and 94 mmag in Johnson B and periods between 0.38 and 1.86 days. The 11 stars have between two and five independent periods.