travellers in 1866 Yorkshire

[bykerlads]

This is a "complete shot in the dark", so please excuse my lack of knowledge about travelling folks.
What I'd like to know is if there is any way of knowing if there were travellers/gypsies/fairground people in or near to Holmfirth, West Yorkshire late Summer 1866. Maybe there was a regular fair which passed through the town or an encampment or even a regular hawkers' route. I have no information at all, I'm afraid.
The reason for my enquiry is that I'm trying to shed light on the paternity of a child born in May 1867- no father's name appears on any records but the family were always said to have "gypsy bood" .Sorry if this sounds offensive, it is really not intended to be - we have several illegitimate births in our tree, I'm just following up any clues we have at all.
In fact the child in question, whatever blood-line she carried, proved to be of exceptionally sturdy stock- producing and raising 13 children, one my grandfather, all of whom did very well for themselves. I am told she was a wonderful character.

[elzabels]

Hello

Do you mean 1866 or 1886 ?

There are numerous sites which specialaise in Romany gypsy

[bykerlads]

Thanks- have corrected it- meant 1866/7.
Any tips as to which sites might be of help?

[rob g]

hi, bykerlads. as a romany man, i can say there are lots of travellers/gypsy folk, who would have been in your area, before and after 1867, but without a name, its not possible to give any info, i.e if ten romany familys stopped on a site, and there were twenty men of age to father a child, you would have to trace them all, and then you could not find the father without a name, so you would never get the father. sorry to be so negative, but you will have to get more info. good luck anyway. rob g

[bykerlads]

Thanks rob g.
I realise it's a bit of a vain hope but worth a try.
It's the gaps in the family tree that are the most tantalising - you just always want to know more!

[CitizenSmith]

Hi Bykerlads

Local trade directories usually gave details of when fairs took place in specific towns. You could take a look for Holmfirth and surrounding places by using the online collection of directories available at the University of Leicester website. All searches are free:

www.historicaldirectories.org

Once you've got an idea of the dates of the fairs, you could also try local newspapers. Fairs – and the people who attended them –  usually got some coverage, particularly if individuals were involved in minor misdemeanours such as allowing their horses to stray or fortune telling. That would give you some surnames to go by.

Romany families and fairground people tended to travel the same routes each year, plotting their course by fairs and markets. So if you find a newspaper mention of a Smith, Boswell or Lee - for example – in a place one year, they're likely to be in the same vicinity in the same month the following year.

Good luck!

Sharon

[bykerlads]

Thanks, Sharon- didn't know about the Leicester Uni website- will have a look.
(I was a post-grad student at Leicester in the early 70's- interesting to see how they have developed things there)

[elzabels]

How about a name to research

[bykerlads]

elzabels- not sure if names will be of use, as it is the unknown father that I'm looking for but this info may ring a bell:
 - child Annie Green Taylor b. 1867 no named father
 - her mother was Hannah Taylor unmarried b.1832
 - the use of Green in Annie's name came from the maiden name of Hannah's mother who died when Hannah was a small child.
The entire family can be traced back well into the 1700's as living in the Underbank area of Holmfirth, West Yorkshire.
As per my original post, I'm just following up the family/village "talk" that there was romany blood in the family and am assuming it might have come via the unnamed father, though of course it may well not be the case.