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The Fleming Sisters
The RTFHS published The Gypsy Countess in May 2018 – this is a brief introduction to the story of the amazing life of a daughter of a Gypsy who married one of the richest young men in England. Jemima, the daughter of Gypsies Selbea Stanley and William Fletcher, had chosen … Continue reading
Born on the Straw
On 15th May 1794 the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette reported an item of interest: A few days ago a poor woman, belonging to a company of Gypsies, was taken in labour at Charlton Kings, near Cheltenham, and soon after delivered of three fine children, two boys and a girl, … Continue reading
Montague Gray
Montague Gray, the partner of Elizabeth Smith/Loveridge, claimed birth c1832, generally in Bedfordshire, although occasionally he said his birthplace had been Hertfordshire. When he formed a union with his second wife, Margaret/Martha Sherriff, he informed the cleric that his father’s name was Charles. Fascinatingly, there is a baptism of a … Continue reading
Marilla Smith
In 1812, in the village of Pavenham, in Bedfordshire, Marilla Smith and Humphrey Curtis married. They are found in lodgings at Thurleigh, Bedfordshire, in 1841, Humphrey claiming birth in 1791, was working as a grinder and his wife, Marilla, said she had been born a few years earlier than her … Continue reading
Artula
In an article in Romany Routes about Artula Stanley, baptised on 22nd May 1741 at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Winchester, Hampshire, ‘daughter of a Gypsy,’ I discussed the possibility that she was descended from a sibling or a child of the Artula Stanley who began having children in about 1717, and … Continue reading