RootsChat.Com

Good day,

I was wondering if you could help me. My great-grandfather's line stretches back to Derry but I have been unable to trace beyond my great-great-great-great grandfather who was:

William Haywood
Born about 1795 in Londonderry
By 1851 was living in Kidderminster, Worcestershire
By 1861 was living in Mitton, Worcestershire
Died 14th September 1868 in Worcester, Worcestershire

William married Sarah (?) who was born round about 1795 in West Bromwich. Their children where Mary, Hannah and Samuel.

This is a somewhat odd question but I thought I would ask everyone here who is of Roma\Traveller descent. Does anyone have a patch of brown skin like a birthmark?
The reason why I am asking is that I was watching the boxing with my boyfriend a few nights ago and Billy-Jo Saunders\Sanders (Traveller) has a similar one on his face. The reason why I noticed this was because many of my maternal family (mother and grandmother) have the same mark but in different places - my mothers is on her back, mine is on my knee, my aunt and grandmothers on their face. I'm in no way implying that I am related to him (although we do share a common surname in our ancestry which doesn't mean anything) - it just struck me as a coincidence and I thought I would ask if anyone else had or knew of the same or something similar.

Hello I'm Charoline and I am new here. I hope its okay if I ask you a few questions. I hope everyone is okay with me using the term "gypsy" - I know it can be offensive to some and it is really not meant that way.

Ever since I was a little girl my mother has said that there are Gypsies in the family. Nothing was ever really proven, (apart from dark foreign looks and the fact that my great-great Grandfather was referred to as "the Gypsy") until recently when my Uncle did a family tree. Some of the surnames I have found are:

Sanders, Pook, Biddle, Baggaley, Mayall, Johnson, Smith, Powell, Eaton, Jackson

The Sanders in particular came from Birmingham - they where coopers, wood engravers, sheet metal workers, agricultural labourers and lived in and around the Handsworth\Smetwick area - however no-one has been classed as tent\van dweller (so far at least) and my mother still works with horses (and as a horse trader), which are animals that have been in the family for centuries.

The Jacksons appeared to have been Blacksmiths and one of them rotated between the north and the midlands. Others appeared three times on a census in one year (classed as lodger\boarder).
I thought I'd share my story with everyone and hope that someone can enlighten me as to whether I have a case or whether my family is simply deluded about their origins.