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I’d welcome some help with finding the baptism of an Elijah Smith who – according to census returns from 1871 onwards – was born in about 1834 in or near Wellington in Shropshire.

Elijah and his family travelled mainly in Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire with occasional detours into the Welsh counties of Montgomeryshire and Monmouthshire, according to the baptismal places/birthplaces of his children.

On his marriage to Henrietta Price (also known as Henrietta Florence) in 1862 in Llanluggan, Montgomeryshire, Elijah gives his father’s name as Thomas Smith. The occupations of both bride and groom are given as 'Gypsies'.

I haven’t yet found Elijah or Thomas in the 1861 census or earlier. Nor have I found any likely siblings for Elijah, using Thomas Smith as the father’s name.

Any suggestions or sightings of Elijah or Thomas before 1862 would be much appreciated.

Many thanks.

Hi

The death certificate of Happy Nicholls shows that she died of accidental drowning at Latchford in the county of Chester on 21 October 1867. The death was subject to an inquest on 24 October 1867 by W. Dunstan, coroner for Knutsford Division. She was a widow aged 57.

To find out more, I've tried an extensive search of the Cheshire Observer and the Cheshire Chronicle online for late October and early November – both an index search using a variety of terms and a page-by-page browse – but can find no sign of her inquest, although other inquests in the county are covered in some detail. I've also tried Lancashire newspapers.

Does anyone have any ideas why Happy's inquest is missing from the press? 

Many thanks in advance.

Sharon

Katy Hooper of the Gypsy Collections, University of Liverpool, tells me that they have today published their complete collection of photos by Fred Shaw online here:

http :// sca.lib.liv.ac . uk/ead/html/gb141smgcshaw-p2.shtml
http://sca-arch.liv.ac.uk/ead/html/gb141smgcshaw-p1.shtml^(*)

If you click on the links in the left-hand Contents panel, you can see thumbnails of 300+ digitised photos, mainly of British Romany families, with names, locations and dates. The photos date from the 1890s to the 1940s.

There are also some photos of Greek, Gallician and Belgian Gypsies who travelled through Britain on their way to the USA in the early 20th century.

Hope you find an ancestor's portrait here.

Best wishes
Sharon


^(*) Moderator Comment:
May 2018: link updated.
s. http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=508199.msg6511263#msg6511263
Other links here may have also been changed ("sca.lib.liv.ac" ==> "sca-arch.liv.ac")

The genealogy radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday included information on the Scottish circus family, the Cordonas, and on the Gypsy families of Kirk Yetholm, particularly the Youngs and Blythes.

You can catch the programme online here for the next 7 days:

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qy122/Digging_Up_Your_Roots_Series_4_Episode_8/

Sharon

I've just been given a link for a new site about New Forest Gypsies:

www.newforestromanygypsytraveller.co.uk

The site includes over a 100 old photos for families that include Doe, Hughes, Cooper, James and Sherrad and so on. So well worth a look if you're researching these names in Hampshire. 

Best wishes

Sharon