Hi all,
I have posted on here before but I really seem to have hit a brick wall, so I thought I'd give it another try and see if any of you can help in any way.
I feel a bit of a fraud being on here, though, because my main problem is that I can find no link at all to travellers, despite numerous family stories.
My own Penfold link goes back quite a long way - to a Sophia Penfold who married James Mills in 1832, in Edenbridge, Kent. There are lots of stories, both in my branch of the family and in another branch I have managed to get in touch with (one of Sophia's brothers' lines) that the Penfolds were a circus family. There are also possible stories of a connection to the Pettigroves. This all fits with general research into the Penfold name, but I can find no actual evidence of travellers or the circus. On my own line, I have gone back into the eighteenth century, and I have traced as many lines of cousins as I can - but still nothing.
I'm now trying to start from the other direction as a last ditch attempt. If anyone has any details at all about a Penfold circus connection in Kent (or the surrounding counties), particularly with a Pettigrove connection, I would be very grateful. I have many names and dates which I can share if anyone thinks they may be able to help.
Thanks very much,
B