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The Staffordshire Sentinel of 3rd April 1889 reported the case of Zuba Bailey, a Gypsy, who was charged with vagrancy by telling fortunes. The first witness was an ‘Elizabeth Wrench, the wife of a potter, who stated that she and her daughter, Fanny, went to the Gypsy encampment in Foley … Continue reading →

On 26th January 1850 the Sherborne Mercury carried a brief article, ‘A Gypsy Funeral,’ recording a burial at Uplyme, Devon: ‘An old woman named Wells, who has been known in the neighbourhood a great number of years, was seized with smallpox about a fortnight ago, whilst encamped near Wootton Fitzpaine, … Continue reading →

On 1st May 1845 at Wimborne Minster in Dorset a Gypsy woman named Sylvia (Selbea) Fletcher was laid to rest, ‘aged 89.’ She was actually just 85, having been baptised at Hampreston, Dorset, on 20th May 1760, daughter of Peter and Sarah Stanley, but had, nonetheless, survived to what was … Continue reading →

In the churchyard of All Saints at Lopen, Somerset, a gravestone is inscribed ‘Robert Carter, born 1793, died 6 April 1869, husband of Mary Ann, father of Mary Ann Carter.’ Robert Carter had travelled some distance to his final resting place, and his memorial stone had probably been erected by … Continue reading →