Roake History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Languedoc is the region of ancient France from which the name Roake was derived. It comes from when the family lived in La Rocque, in l'Herault, Languedoc.

Early Origins of the Roake family

The surname Roake was first found in Languedoc where the family has held a family seat since ancient times.

Early History of the Roake family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Roake research. Another 460 words (33 lines of text) covering the years 1090, 1112, 1132, 1280, 1303, 1372, 1500, 1541, 1550, 1581, 1582, 1620, 1704, 1709, 1746, 1760 and 1762 are included under the topic Early Roake History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Roake Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Roake some of which are La Roque, Roque, De Roque, du Roque, Rocque, La Rocque, du Rocque, Larocque, Laroc, Roquebrune and many more.

Early Notables of the Roake family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was John Rocque (1704-1762), originally Jean, a French-born British surveyor and cartographer, best known for his detailed map of London published in 1746. He was one...
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Roake Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Roake migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec, in 1663 there were only 500, 2,000 migrants arrived during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many distinguished contributions have been made by members of this family name Roake. It has been prominent in the arts, religion, politics and culture in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Roake were

Roake Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Joseph Roake, who landed in New England in 1658 1

Roake migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Roake Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Ms. Martha Roake U.E. who settled in Belle Vue, Beaver Harbour, Charlotte County, New Brunswick c. 1783 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Roake (post 1700) +

Albert Roake, American politician, Mayor of Oregon City, Oregon, 1954 3

The Roake Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Deo vero et honori
Motto Translation: God and the honor

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html