cathayb, I did not mean to infer that all Romanis are fortune tellers nor anything of the sort. Could you perhaps be a little over-sensitive about that?
In fact I think that side of me came not through my male-line Romani ancestors so much; more through my mother's side of the family, who were descended from French Hugenots according to my late maternal grandmother Connie, bless her soul. Certainly there were Hugenots in Mitcham and had been for centuries. She lived in Lavender Grove, built on the site of the former lavender farm there.
By the way, I am not a fortune-teller. I merely help people to understand themselves better, with a few guidelines and dates for the future and insights into past events. To save the obvious response, this is not an advert for my services, as I have always had more clients than I can cope with and am determinedly winding down after a long career.
My mother was very psychic but deeply scared of that ability and repressed it as best she could. I was not scared and developed it, which has enabled me to help thousands of people to understand themselves better. I also was a schoolteacher for a few years as a younger man, teaching physics. I am autistic, but not stupid. I see things most others apparently don't. Generally I have to keep very quiet about that in polite company; maybe it applies to this site too?
You ask about my paternal grandfather, the full-blood gypsy (Romani as far as the family can tell). My grandfather (George Henry Mayo) was the first on the male side of the family to be born in a house, in Mitcham. His father in turn had been born 'by the side of the road' to quote his birth certificate, as were all his forebears. I think the direct ancestor who lived in the White Hart Yard was called James Mayo, but I'd have to check that with my brother or sister, who are the natural archivists of the family.
I am the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son, going back and back.
I can see what Redroger meant by his suspicions now, as it is also radiating from your reply too cathayb, and I can understand. Please do not think that I meant any disrespect to the Romani community; I did not. I'm a third generation outsider now, looking into your private forum where you have rightly earned considerable ascendancy and respect. So I can just bugger off, and I will, with full apology.
Please appreciate that my posts on the site today were merely in the hope of drawing out more information about my ancestry than my family already knows.
My wife and I have been surrounded by a circle of Romanis occasionally visiting us from the etheric realms for several years now, helping us to stay safe from the many threats that people like us face - and healing us when we fall victim to the negativity of certain ignorant people's over-powerful Ego-driven minds. These kind and protective 'visitors' did tell us their family name, but I have forgotten it. It might have been Lee; I'll check to see if my wife remembers.
This 'camp-fire group' is the private reason I posted up. Perhaps my curiosity was idle; some things are not to be mentioned - yet here am I laying it out for anyone to see. In my opinion, the world is in such a parlous state that we human people are past the point where keeping secrets is the answer. 'Lay it out and let people choose for themselves' is my simple philosophy now. If that results in me being disrespected, wounded or shot out of the skies, too bad. I'm old and ready to join the ancestors any time. Meanwhile our circle of helpers is keeping us going.
I'll leave you in peace now. May you and your family be much loved and respected.
My regards and good wishes to all who read this,
Paul Mayo
