First found in Norfolk where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Rookwood surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Anthony Rockwood who settled in Virginia in 1635; C. Rockwood settled in New Orleans in 1823; William Rockwood settled in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in 1772.

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