An Old Norse Name..."ROE"

According to the "Historic Records of an Old Family" by Francis Asbury Roe, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, June 1890, the "Roe" name is of Norse origin. In the old Norse language of Norway, all names commencing with an R were preceeded by the letter H. "Roe" was spelled "Hroe", "Rane" was spelled "Hrane", and "Rolf" was spelled "Hrolf". In later times, the H was dropped to give the present day spellings.

After the Pagan era, the Vikings invaded Normandy and took that portion of France from Charles the Simple, and the name "Roe" was found established at Rouen, the capital of the Dukes of Normandy. As time progressed and the Norse abandoned the area, the name has been changed to French spelling and we find the following, pronunciation preserved: Roo, Rou, Rous, Roux, and Le Roux which is the full French form.

The Norman Conquest of the British Isles occurred in 1066 by the Norman's under the command of William the Conqueror. Here we find the influence of the Norman's. In Ireland, we find in the Northern part a valley through which flows the River Roe which eventually empties into the Atlantic Ocean. This valley and river are said to be of the patrimony of the Viking invaders from Norway, among whom was found the men who gave their name to the river. There is in England, not far from London, a place called Roe Hampton. This was, in the Anglo-Norman times, the designation of the "Home-Town" of the Roe's.

In Ireland, England, and America, the Norse name of Roe is preserved in its oldest form....."Roe".

On the Japanese island of Tanegasima, there is a Cape Roe, so named from Rear-Admiral Roe, who, in 1853-54, was a Navigator and an Explorer in those seas, in an Exploring Expedition to the Artic regions and around the world.

The first known historic mention of the Roe family is to be found in the V.Saga of the Heimskringla, a book written in Iceland between the years 1178 and 1241. This book is titled "Chronicles of the Kings of Norway". In the book is mentioned "Hroe the White" or "Roe Vidfarle" (far-travelled). This "Roe the White" is spoken of in the Sagas as the "foster-father of kings", as so many king's sons having been placed under his care; and the office appears to have fallen in great degree to his son, "The Far-Travelled".

In Norway, around the year 1177, was a Bishop Roe who through Astrid, his daughter, there is a line of six Kings of Norway. Astrid was the wife of Sverre, son of King Sigurd-Mouth of Norway. The end of this line of six kings extinguished the last of the race of Harold, the Fair-Hair, the first King of all Norway.

The Irish Roe's were not Celts. They were originally Vikings from Norway and Denmark, or Anglo-Normans from England. So far back as the year 832, Thorgil the Viking, invaded Ireland with 120 long ships, and conquered nearly all the north of Ireland and reigned there eight years. This Thorgil was the son of Harold the Fair-Hair.

It is said that in D'Arcy McGee's history of Ireland, there are so many Irish Roe's, that it would be fatiguing to quote them to any extent. In the year 1260, there is mentioned one Donnel Roe who "is the chief of the hostile house of McCarthy".

It is said that "In the year 1630-1640, the first immigrant from Europe came to this country (U.S.A.) in the person of John Roe". Some say he came from Ireland and some say from England. According to the "Historic Records of an Old Family", it is said that "In either case, if he came from Ireland, it is certain that he was not of the Irish clans, nor did he bring with him any of the peculiarities of that peculiar people. John Roe brought with him his English blood, his English religion, and his English traits".

Old John Roe was one of the signers to the treaty of cession of Long Island by the Indians, for which every acre was fully paid.

At the beginning of the 20th Century we find one Alliot Verdon Roe, an Englishman, who was one of the early aviation pioneers. He flew his Triplane in 1909.

This is what we know of the very early Roe's. No doubt we can find Roe's anywhere in the British Isles. This of course would have been the result of the Norman invasions and the following influx of people from that group. To say we are English or Irish or Scottish would only be partly true if we do not consider the whole "picture". Nevertheless, we are a proud group of people no matter how we got here.

From the library of Donald E. Roe, Sr., b.1940, DeRoe@aol.com, 1997

Visit my other page.........."Welcome to the Gleanings of a Roe/Rowe Family".


Some favorite places to visit:

1. USGenWeb Project
2. NCGenWeb Genealogy
3. The Genealogy Home Page
4. Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site: FamilyFinder Index
5. The USGenWeb Project - Arkansas
6. Genealogist's Index to the World Wide Web
7. Ancestry's Social Security Death Index (SSDI) Online Search
8. Genealogy Today

The River Roe near Limavady, County Londonderry, Ireland.
Compliments of Jochen Lueg, Limavady College.

See his great WebSite ..........here