This web site traces the lineage of a family from the northern end of the Cotswold Hills. The family
name would have been transcribed from oral records in documenting their lives, as most  would have
been illiterate, so there are many spelling variations in the public records that have survived.
Variants such as Ruff, Rough, Rofe and Ralph can be found, as well as the more common Roffe and
Roff. 

Many members of the family were religous non-conformists, so in many cases, baptism and burial
records have not survived. Many of the men in early families were stone masons, and their work in
the building trades continued in brick as they moved from rural areas to cities in search of work as
rural communities declined in the 1800's.

The earliest identified family members came from Northleach in Gloucestershire, and that is where
this story starts.