Hi Jamie, Not sure if we have been in touch before or not . It was my old Dorsetbays website you quoted though that's long gone as there was too much on there that was inaccurate.
I have spent years looking for a Romany link based on my grandmother's story that we had Romany ancestry possibly linked to coming over from Spain. There is a definite dark gene that seems to appear once in every family - very dark wavy hair, dark eyes, olive skin, very different to the rest of the family. My middle daughter often gets asked if she is Middle eastern or Indian. It's a very strong gene. Even in the most recent generations we have a 3 year old and a 5 year old in two different families on opposite sides of the world with the 'dark gene'
Over the years I have ruled out a Romany link in every line except for the Tudgay one and that's the one I keep coming back to. I have confess I put all research aside for about 8 years and am coming back to it with fresh eyes . In the past I had heard from other Tudgay researchers also looking at the Romany link but no one had any real proof, just circumstantial evidence .
I am descended from John & Priscilla Tudgay (not got the Longbridge Deverill link back to John's father so thank you for that). Have never found who Priscilla was - a very unusual name but popular with Romanies. The Marshall family could have been - struggling to trace that particular line back - but no evidence. It was a common Romany name but a common name in the general population too. My sticking point is that my William Tudgay married Mary Mifflin and she was certainly not Romany (she come from what had been a wealthy, middle class Quaker family back in the 1600s though by the time she married William I think they were pretty poor!)
So I don't know. The other lady's link to her Priscilla Tudgay marrying into a known Romany family is the most tangible evidence I have seen. I have heard the idea of adult baptism using both the woman's maiden name and her married name is a Romany custom but I don't know if that's true!
All the best
Helen