Rochford/rochfort origins
I would love information on the Rochfords. My Anne was the daughter of Sir Simon Rochford and I have located him on the Rochford line, but I would love some life information on these people, to fill them out as people rather than just names and dates.
I am interested on the origins of the name. It seems to me (though I cannot confirm ) that there might be two origins for the name: one French and one English. The French name clearly comes from one of several place names in France and the low countries. You would have to find the original bearers of any particular name to establish which one. Then there is an english origin: perhaps from the Saxon words ræcc ‘hunting dog’ (perhaps a byname) + Old English ford ‘ford’. There are two place names in Essex and Worcestershire, alhtough Genuki gives the Essex one as being named after the river it stands on, the Roche (which may derive from the OE raecc).
"ROCHFORD
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"Rochford this ancient town is situated on the small river Roche, a confluent of the river Crouch, and the river is naviigable foor vessels of considerable burthen to.. within a mile of the town. It is 40 miles east of London 12 miles south of Maldon 19 1/4 south of Chelmsford, 23 miles from Brentwood Station, 6 miles east of Rayleigh annd 4 miles north of Southend .. The parish consists of about 1,855 acres. Population in 1861 was 1,481."
[Kelly's Directory of Essex, 1862] "
It seems that the de Rochford family of Rochford, Essex, took their name from the town, not the other way round.
I wonder if there has been confusion between the two names, that of French origin and that of English, particularly as it became more fashionable to claim French origin. I would like to know the original name of the Essex de Rochfords before they took it on. They may have no relationship at all with the French Rocheforts.
Whichever origin, branches of the Rochfords/Rocheforts were in Ireland from the 13th c onwards with the English invasion.