Papers of William Roff

These Papers of William (Bill) Roff relate mainly to his research interests in the Hajj pilgrimage particularly among pilgrims from Southeast Asia. The material consists of research notes, papers of Roff and others, and official documents.

William Roff (mainly known as Bill) was born in Bearsden, in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He joined the merchant navy in the late 1940s and worked for the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Company in Asia.. He settled in New Zealand, working as a journalist, and in 1952, he took up New Zealand's offer for anyone over 21 to enrol in tertiary education and studied part-time for a history degree and Masters at Victoria University, Wellington. He went to the Australian National University for his PhD, much of which was researched when living with a family in Kampung Jawa, near Kuala Lumpur. His thesis was subsequently published as _The Origins of Malay Nationalism_ .
He taught at the University of Malaya from 1965-1969 before moving to the University of Colombia where he remained until his retirement. On retiring, he moved with his wife, Sue, to the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland, in the early 1990s, and was an honorary professorial fellow in Edinburgh University's Islamic and Middle Eastern department. Throughout his "retirement" he continued to supervise PhD candidates. He died in 2013, aged 84.

The material was donated in a series of labelled folders. The material from each folder has predominantly been kept together and series titled according to the folder label.

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

The material was donated by Sue Roff, the widow of William Roff, in 2023.

William Roff (mainly known as Bill) was born in Bearsden, in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He joined the merchant navy in the late 1940s and worked for the British and Burmese Steam Navigation Company in Asia.. He settled in New Zealand, working as a journalist, and in 1952, he took up New Zealand's offer for anyone over 21 to enrol in tertiary education and studied part-time for a history degree and Masters at Victoria University, Wellington. He went to the Australian National University for his PhD, much of which was researched when living with a family in Kampung Jawa, near Kuala Lumpur. His thesis was subsequently published as _The Origins of Malay Nationalism_ .
He taught at the University of Malaya from 1965-1969 before moving to the University of Colombia where he remained until his retirement. On retiring, he moved with his wife, Sue, to the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland, in the early 1990s, and was an honorary professorial fellow in Edinburgh University's Islamic and Middle Eastern department. Throughout his "retirement" he continued to supervise PhD candidates. He died in 2013, aged 84.

The material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2023.

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

The material was acquired or created by William Roff in the course of his research. It was left with his widow on his death who presented it to the Royal Asiatic Society.

A collection of photographs was donated with these papers. These form part of the Society's photographic collections. The Society's collections also hold several works written by Roff. Details can be found in our Library catalogue: https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/.

Published

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