by Phillip G. Goff, GGFA Director of Genetic Genealogy
This is the second of a 10-part series on early Goffe families in England.
The Dorset History Centre (DHC) maintains a database of online historical records. In Dorset, like elsewhere in the south and east of England, Goffe is the earliest form of the surname. The Goff spelling appears in the DHC online documents in the latter part of the 17th century. Dorset references to Gough come even later. The below is a partial list of abstracted records of Goffe entries in the DHC https://archive-catalogue.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/ from 1628 to 1734:
Each post in this 10-part series on early Goffe families in England will be published on a two-week schedule.
Phillip Goff is the co-author, along with Roy L. Lockhart, of The Four Goff Brothers of Western Virginia. Since 2004, he has run the Goff/Gough Surname DNA Study, which today has about 400 participants.