Book 2. the Roach Family

Book 2. The Roach Family- From Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, England 1. Roach – the name and early history The name Roach as for our early family (sometimes spelt as Rouch, or alternatively in other families as Roche which is still used) is old in English history dating from the early Norman period. In English, its origins are topographic as originally it was the name for someone who lived by a rocky crag or outcrop, from the Old French roche translated into Norman as rocque , both later replaced in English by rock . That is, it may be a direct derivative in either language of the word, rock applied as a description of a person. Alternatively, its use can come from the town or village of habitation rather than a particular person, examples being from such towns so named of Roach in Devon, Roche in Cornwall and South Yorkshire or from Roche Castle in Wales, the particular family themselves perhaps never having had an ancestor directly associated with a rocky outcrop. Although it is originally a Norman or Breton (these now being parts of France) name transferred to England, it is also common in Ireland although it is not indigenous there as again it is of Norman origin with habitational roots. Whichever of these is the origin of our family’s name, its earliest manifestation is thus from France, from Normandy, Brittany or nearby counties. Examples in France are Les Roches in Seine-Maritime, Normandy or La Rochelle in Charente-Maritime which is further south between Brittany and Aquitaine, both names also deriving from the Old French . Note that while Normandy was a Frankish area taken over by the Norse (Norwegians The town name Winterbourne (also spelt and Danes) in the 9 th and 10 th centuries, Wintreborn, Wynterbourne, Winterburn Brittany had strong links with Devon and and Winterborn) is said to be derived Cornwall due to immigration to it from the from a particular burn (Bradley brook) south west of Britain as early as the 6 th or which dries in the summer but flows in 7th centuries after the Anglo-Saxon settlers winter. It was sufficiently important to began to dominate the English hierarchy. have a bridge over it at the point where it reaches the parish as early as 1364, Given the above, it seems possible that, as "Motteford" (Muddy Ford, now Matford) our Roach family’s location was Watley’s Bridge being complained of as broken End, Winterbourne Parish near the Welsh through default of Winterbourne and border, our family name came either from Frampton Cotterell. This parish is now some rocky outcrop in the Cotswold Hills the only one of the name without an or perhaps from a Welsh town with strong appendage. There is a Winterbourne St. Anglo-Norman associations rather than James, Berkshire, and there are twenty of directly from Norman –French the name in Wiltshire and Dorset, all of immigrants. But this is speculation and it is which now have some distinctive suffix, also possible that we may have had e.g., Winterborne Abbas, Winterborne ancestors associated with the early Monckton, Winterbourne Dantsey. Norman invasion after 1066 (as is the case Watley's End appears as Watler's End, on any family line given the immense Wadley's End, Walter's End, and Watt- number of ancestors nearly a thousand lays End. The origin is not clear. years ago). The lineage is however not provable. The first historical record in England of the name in any of its variants is John de Roches, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book (Bedfordshire), during the reign of King 35 William, " The Conqueror " (or “the Bastard ” to the English), 1066 - 1087. The earliest records relevant to our family are from some 500 years later which shows them in the Gloucestershire countryside (English West Country) at Winterbourne where there is no nearby habitational connection with the Roach name. Winterbourne (see Appendix 2, Maps) is a large village currently now of around 9,000 inhabitants about 5 miles north-east of Bristol and is thus on the outskirts of that modern, expanded city. In the 1800s however, it is likely that it was separated from Bristol by a number of miles and, while it would have been influenced in trade and commerce by the larger seaport town, it would have operated socially much in its own right. It lies near the River Frome which flows south east from Old Sodbury, past Winterbourne and through the beautiful Frome valley where it joins the River Avon which earlier passes near Bath. This river system then flows back to the north and west through Bristol city to enter the Bristol Channel at Avonmouth. The Winterbourne Parish Church (Anglican) where records of the Roach births, deaths and marriages emanate is St Michael's, a building believed to date from the 12th Century and which celebrated its 800 th anniversary in 1998. It is away from the centre of Winterbourne and sits in green fields amongst attractive cottages with its spire clearly visible from the village. At the altar, there is a stone depiction of the Last Supper, based on the painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Of further interest, Winterbourne Court Farm Barn (a 14th century tithe barn) is close to St Michael's and is said to be an outstanding and unique example of its type. The original lease is purported to have been granted to a knight in the services of the powerful Berkeley family for, so the legend says, his services in helping to dispatch the unpopular King Edward II (because of his defeat by the Scots at Bannockburn, his probable homosexual relationships with Piers Gaveston and Hugh St. Michael’s Parish Church, Despenser) at the bequest of his wife, Queen Winterbourne. Isabella, daughter of the French king, and her lover, Roger Mortimore. 2. Roach and related families in Gloucestershire from about 1600 to 1800 2.1 Roach, Rouch (early references to the name): The earliest historical record of the Rouch name that may be traceable to our family in Winterbourne is a Richard Rouch, born to a father, Nicholas Rouch on 17/6/1604. A few years later, on 29/10/1620, a William Rouch married a Margaret Trippatt. If the above families were connected to each other, either records were lost (most likely) or the family resided away from Winterbourne perhaps on a farm, in another village or in the more important city of Bristol. No further records then appear for over one hundred years until on 28/11/1725 a Robert and Martha Roach had a son, also called Robert. The spelling of the surname had now changed but this is most likely due to the proclivity of the transcriber as on occasions, the older spelling reappeared at a later date. Then, on 17/7/1759, a Martha Roach married a John Allpress. Given the dates and the given name 36 of Martha, she may have been the daughter of the above Robert and Martha. Whether there were sons in addition to Robert to carry on the Roach name from Robert and Martha into future generations or whether there was a parallel branch from a preceding generation from which we are descended is unknown. 2.2 Possible antecedents of the first of our known Roach ancestors : After 1750, the name starts to appear more regularly in Winterbourne records. First, a Charles and Betty Roach had children, Thomas (31/7/1768), Amelia (31/12/1769) and Christian (a daughter, 17/2/1771) while an Isaac and Jane Roach produced Jane (23/4/1769) and Christian, also a girl (25/11/1770). It is likely that these two families were connected, probably as brothers, as 30 years later in the next generation an Isaac Roach (call him the second Isaac) appears married to Hannah (perhaps also called Ann?) with a daughter (or daughters) Esther, (24/11/1799, 4/6/1820) and sons called Charles (perhaps named after their uncle or grandfather) baptized 2/2/1806 and again 19/11/1812. This repeat of the names probably meant that either the first child of that name died young or more unlikely that, for some unknown reason, the baptismal ceremony was carried out twice. A daughter Jane was baptized on 26/4/1801. An infant Charles died on 20/11/1812 and may have been the second of the two sons referred to above. It would seem that the records may not be complete as this second Isaac Roach must have been born around the same time period as the births noted above for the children of both Charles and Isaac (about 1770) and it seems most likely that one of these, possibly Isaac senior was his father. This older Isaac, noted as Isaac Roach “senior”, was buried on 9/11/1806. Also, a Jane Roach, probably his wife was buried only shortly before on 21/2/1806 but we are given no indication of her age. An Ann Roach died on 1845 aged 77 at Stoke Gifford about 2 miles to the west of Winterbourne in 1839 aged 69 while the younger Isaac died in 1841 aged 73. Hence, they were both born in 1868. It seems most likely but not completely certain that this Ann was not our Anne, (Anne Maggs, the wife of John Rouch, see section 2.3) but the wife of the younger Isaac Roach. 2.3 Our first identified ancestor: John Rouch is the first who can, with reasonable certainty, be labeled as our By a deed of July, 1834, 2 acres of Frenchay ancestor then appears but his parents Common was conveyed to the Church cannot be identified.

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