Author Archives: admin

‘We know very little about ourselves; and you know nothing, save what we have told you; and we have now and then told you things about us which are not exactly true, simply to make a fool of you, brother.  You will say that was wrong; perhaps it was.  Well, … Continue reading →

In the 1861 census a family of Travellers camping out at Stoke Hammond in Buckinghamshire, was to cause some confusion for researchers with regard to two of the tribe listed. The family are mainly Smiths, with two Drapers present, and the young man, Israel Draper, is described as a stepson … Continue reading →

The Palmer tribe, descended from Lydia Smith and ?Robert Palmer, were principally horse dealers and can be found traversing the south and south-west of England before, in several cases, emigrating to the United States. It was Noah Palmer who first led me to America, claiming in the 1861 census in … Continue reading →

In the spring of 1831 a family of Travellers were removed from Somerford Parva, Wiltshire to Chedworth, Gloucestershire: Emmanuel Stephens/Stevens, his wife, Elizabeth, and their children Maria, 13; Moses, 11; Amos, 9; Mark, 5; Ann, 3; Ezra, 2; Eli, 6 months. Chedworth was indeed home territory for Emmanuel Stevens and … Continue reading →

Chedworth is a Gloucestershire village nestled in the Cotswolds, just seven miles from Cirencester, and was considered home territory by the Traveller family descended from Robert and Eleanor Stephens/Stevens from at least the late eighteenth century. In 1787 the Gloucestershire Overseer’s records list Robert Stephens, claiming to come from Cirencester, … Continue reading →