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How do I trace ancestors if we think they might have been gypsies?

My dad's Grandma said something to my dad when he was little that stuck in his mind and made him think that past ancestors were travellers or gypsies, i'm in the process of creating my dads family tree and when I got to his Grandma I got stuck, I can't find any info or her name on census's or anything. obviously if they were gypsies they won't be on census's but i'm really stuck and need some help on this (if it's possible) Girlie electrics - GRO records? Sorry, i've only just started doing the family tree so i'm very new to it and haven't learnt all the terms. I'm using family tree maker and ancestry.co.uk when I put her name in it doesn't find any hints about her and I have her marriage certificate therefore her maiden name, dates of marriage and where, also where and when she died as we have the death cert also but that's all. We don't have her birth certificate. Oh, plus I think she was born in Wales, I live in Leeds as did the family she married in to. Wow, thanks Rob G, she actually was a Burton. Thanks everybody else too. this will be a massive help. will prob contact some of you soon if thats possible.

Public Comments

1. Visit the nearest caravan lot.
2. I have the same problem, it also doesn't help that they have a common name.
3. Try the Gypsy Liaison Officer at your local County Hall - he/she may be able to advise. Gypsies did sometimes get included - my family were canal boatmen and they appear on the 1851 Census, listed as being near a local Mill.
4. They still got born, married and died. What dates/names/places are given on GRO records for them?
5. It is possible but then again it could just be family-lore. Get a hold of the birth certificates of her children and see what comes up. Census records are full of mistakes. Even today you can slip through the cracks of the census taking. I was a school administrator in Montana in 2000 when the census was taken and many families were never counted because the families felt it was an invasion of privacy to answer census questions.
6. http://genforum.genealogy.com/gypsy/ http://website.lineone.net/~rtfhs/links.html http://distantcousin.com/SurnameResources/Surname.asp?Surname=GYPSY
7. Find out where grandma was born. Chances are her parents married in one of the nearby churches. Next search the county for the names of her father and mother, and their parents. Gypsies went from farm to farm to help with the harvest.
8. what were _all_ the details on the marriage cert. If no-one has yet researched the woman/family then there won't be anything online. You'll have to construct the tree yourself.
9. Interesting question!! My family came from Wales and I lived in Leeds.But there is a lot of help . Were they Romanies, fairground travellers, hawkers. Have you tried the Romany and Traveller F.H.S. site at www.rtfhs.org.uk? How about Cyndi's List www.cyndislist.com and put in gypsies in the search box. also try rootsweb.com How could we make contact I am 76 and would like to help you. I spend a lot of time on F.H.
10. i am a gypsy, there are lots of romany sites on the internet, try lancashire on line parish clerks. names are important . olso occupations, try looking for hawkers/pedlers/potters or earthenwares,there arelots of old famliy names, here are a few boswell. miller . lee. wilson. evens. burton. smith.but there are too many to name i myself am a mitchell, and can trace my famliy back to at least 1715. gypsys did get baptised,church records have lots of info. but try the romany sites ,cuhsty bok, good luck in romany..rob.ps if you get stuck.ask again and i will give you my e mail address.
11. Her father's name will be on her marriage cert, you need to check the census (try one before she married) for her with a father by same name. Bear in mind mis-spellings etc ... if they were gypsies (or even if not) it is likely they couldn't read or write and the enumerator just put down what he/she thought was the spelling of the name. If she had a marriage cert there must be a birth cert. What year was she married & how old does it say she was at the time? Have you looked on freebmd.org?