The village of Rubroch, later called Rubrouck, is first mentioned in the year 1104 and is situated in Canton Cassel, in the northwest of France, the then Southern Low Countries. De village derives its name from Guillaume de Rubrouck, a Franciscan monk who in 1250 traveled to Mongolia by order of and under the patronage of King Louis the IX. His account of this journey is widely known in historic circles.
In 1347 the name Robroeck occurs in Steinfurt, Westphalia, Germany. Is this a coincidence or could there be a family connection?
Stenvorde originated in de tenth century as a settlement surrounding "a Vorde" (= a ford) in the river Aa. Later the name Stenvorde changed to Steinfurt. In 1347 Steinfurt was granted a charter and became Stadt Steinfurt (= the city of Steinfurt). Because of the nearby castle (= the burgh) the name of the city later changed to Burgsteinfurt. Burgsteinfurt consists of the "Bauerschaften" Hollich, Sellen and Veltrup. When the city merged with nearby Borghorst in 1975 its name changed back to Steinfurt. The city house is a so-called "Wasserschloss", owned by the Counts of Bentheim-Steinfurt. The descendents still live there. Parts of the castle are open to the public.
Having been granted a charter also meant that from 1347 the city established a registry office. As far as I have been able to ascertain, the family name is first registered in the Stadtarchiv (= the city archives) in that very same year, when Johannes Rubroec and his wife Kunne, living in "Dat Hus to Rowenbroke", registered the birth of their son.
In France: "La première mention du village de Rubrouck remonte à 1104: Rubroch, Ru provient de Ruw, rugueux dans le sens de broussailleux et Brouck de marais".
In Germany: Brock or Broke means uncultivated marshland. Ro or Row means broken, in the sense of rough. The name, therefore, indicates a rough, uncultivated piece of marshland. In the area surrounding Steinfurt there are still place names with the same origin, for instance Westerbrook, Uhlenbrock and Dickenbrock.
From 1347 to 1525 there is little information regarding the family history. It is only after 1525 that the family tree becomes more structured.
Most of our ancestors were farmers and lived in the Bauerschaft Hollich near Burgsteinfurt, Westfalen, Germany. Bauerschafts are farm communities. A Bauerschaft was comprised of a number of Hofs (farms) which were numbered, similar to house numbers today. The church and the nobility owned the land, which was usually leased to a Zeller or Colon (= an independent farmer). Colon is derived from Colonat (= a full sized-farm, including a farmhouse, land and living-in laborers and other staff). These farmers ran farms in Hollich, Sellen and Veltrup, so-called Bauerschaften, farm communities surrounding Burgsteinfurt. Occupations such as cottager (= Kötter, Koetter, Halbbauer), tenant farmer (= Heürling), weaver and clog maker also occurred. A tenant farmer leased a small house from the cottager and was obliged to work for his landlord, in exchange for a small piece of land to be cultivated for personal use. The term Colon and Zeller are no longer in use. They can be compared to the current term Landwirt.
The Netherlands: In approximately 1790 Hermann Henrich Robrok, born in Hollich, Germany, traveled to The Netherlands where he settled as a master linen-weaver, first in Kollum and later in Metslawier, Friesland. He was the son of Jan Herm Robrok and was called Henrich. However, contrary to German tradition, in The Netherlands the name of the father is mentioned second. Therefore, according to Dutch custom he became known as Hendrik Harmens. In 1792 he married Pietje Luurkes van Kammen in Metslawier and thus became the progenitor of the Dutch branch of the family tree. In 1811 when the population was required to register by order of Napoleon, his name became Hendrik Harmens Robroch. Aside from some spelling errors (Robroek, Robrog) on certificates the name remains the same to this day.
Great-Britain: Harry Robroch, a Dutchmen living in England, spent the Second World War in Rotterdam, together with his English wife and their sons Peter and Roelof. After the liberation they moved to Dundee, Scotland, where Harry died in 1953. No further data.
America: During the 19th Century (between 1840 and 1875) a number of family members emigrated from Germany to de United States of America and established their own families, as a result of which a large number of descendants still live there.
As becomes clear from the family tree, a number of variations on the name have arisen during the course of the centuries. Those names that still occur and that are without any doubt lineal descendents are: Robroch, Robrock and Robrook. In Germany there are currently at least two variations of the name: Robrock and Robrook. As far as I can tell two variations can also be found in The Netherlands: Robroch and Robrock. However, names such as Robroek, en Roebroeck (in the Sittard area) which can be found in The Netherlands as well could be from the same lineage, because these variations also occur in the archives.