Hello Jenny. This Roff/e family is very hard to track down. :) It all depends on the spelling. I have Ellen RALF who married my g granpa Charles Sylvester SMITH/SMYTH 21 Aug 1855 St Marys Cathedral, Sydney. I have the marriage cert. Witnesses were James MOON of Sydney (who signed) & Mary Anne O'Niel (her mark X) of Sydney. Now, Mary Anne was a convict.....O'NIEL Mary, 1837, Sir Charles Forbes, Kerry Ireland, 1836, 7yrs, 23yrs old. I can't find any trace of James MOON. Charles SMITH was a master mariner who, according to his certs was born Sydney but no birth registered there. Ellen died 4Sep1869 at 18 Union st, Pyrmont. father: James ROFF, laborer, age 34yrs so born 1835, no kids but died of peurpural infection so may've lost at least 1 baby before she died. This is the only baptism I can find that comes remotely close to her in 1835: Ellen, no birth date, baptised 13Jul1834, St Marys Cathedral, to James ROACH & Mary DENEHY, sponsors: David DONEVAN & Judith DONEVAN. There is a family story that Charles was born to convict parents in sydney Cove on a convict ship to convict parents. Too many Smiths to varify this. There are several James ROFF convicts. That's about all I have for them. Very elusive. I do think Charles had convict parents, & Ellen had convict parents. The proof is yet to be found. Cheers. Annie. Cairns is a bit chilly tonight but the days have been warm. > Jenny Sharp <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hello list. > I am new to this list and I am looking for a needle in a haystack. My 3x > great grandfather was Edward ROFFE, born 1799 in Tunbridge. He married > Sarah GIBB/S in East Grinstead Sussex in 1823. Edward's father was James > and his mother was Elizabeth WONGER. Now this is my problem. Absolutely > nothing is known about James or his wife Elizabeth. Edward brought his > family to Australia in 1939. None of his Aussie descendants can find > James or Elizabeth. Where did they come from, and who were their > parents? Did they originally come from Sussex, or from Kent, or from > somewhere else? All of James' children were apparently > born/baptised/christened in Tunbridge Wells. I have searched what I can > find on the net, and have found several James ROFFEs but not enough > detail to be sure which is the correct one. > If anyone has any ideas of how I can trace this man and his wife, I > would be forever grateful. > Waiting with crossed fingers and toes from down under > Jenny Sharp > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message Cheers. Anne from Cairns, Aus.