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In the Autumn of 1890 local newspapers carried a story about members of this tribe, when ‘Alfred Gregory, a Gypsy, was charged with assaulting another Gypsy, Britannia Gregory, at Yateley Heath on the previous Friday.’ Witnesses were called, including two of Britannia’s daughters, Charlotte, aged about 13, and Mary, some … Continue reading →

On 13th February 1832 the Sherborne Mercury reported on a case in which the authorities appear to victimise the miscreants for their own gain, confiscating all their possessions and, for the times, a considerable amount of gold, and sentencing them to imprisonment: The following persons were committed as vagrants in … Continue reading →

In the county of Gloucestershire in 1812 a Matthew Norway, alias Stanley, together with Rebecca Stanley and Elizabeth Stanley, appeared in court, charged with stealing some or all of the goods found with them. The Oxford Journal of 21st March 1812 noted: Whereas Matthew Norway, alias Stanley, Rebecca Stanley and … Continue reading →

When Noah Palmer, son of Robert, wed the ill-fated Britannia Cooper, daughter of Nelson, on Jersey, in the Channel Islands, on 1st March 1852, Noah, perhaps oddly, used the surname Hart. The couple were to go on to baptise their first known child, Nathaniel, in Wraxall, Somerset, on 6th February … Continue reading →

In Cornwall, in July 1893, a local newspaper reported that ‘a Gypsy wedding excited some interest at Bodmin on Monday, the bridegroom being Benjamin Orchard, son of James Orchard, and the bride Charlotte Orchard, daughter of Edwin Orchard. They are well-known throughout Cornwall and were described as licensed hawkers; their … Continue reading →