Hi,
I’ve had a Eureka moment tonight, but it has led me to a brickwall. It concerns a Smith travelling family who ended up in Lincolnshire, headed by a Tennant Smith, who seemingly originated in Oxfordshire sometime around 1793, going from his age at his burial.
One of his children’s baptisms (from freereg) was:
Cornelius Smith s/o Dis Eagle Tenant and Beech Annie Smith, 7 Feb 1836, Nether Heyford, Northants, vagrant gipsies
I’ve been pondering over ‘Dis Eagle’, and tonight made the connection to a snippet I found from the Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society on a google book search:
(JGLS 1926 p.24) Ezechiel Tennant Smith son of a travelling man and woman baptized at North Aston Oxon June 3 1798 is the earliest Gypsy instance I know…..
I’m pretty sure that ‘Dis Eagle’ should read ‘Ezechiel’. So, off to the IGI to check the baptism and sure enough there it is, an extracted entry for Ezekiel Tennant Smith, but no parents named.
Now, with neither of the sources naming any parents I’m pretty sure that the original entry does not either, but would someone please be able to check, just in case.
(And in case you’re wondering about ‘Beech Annie’, the name generally seems to be listed as Bechina, and she was buried as Bettina).
Thanks for any help,
Jo.