Hello Everybody! Long time observer, first time poster here
Like pretty much everyone else here I have become interested in likely Romany/Romani/Romanichal connections in my family tree.
The search started after both my Maternal Grandmother and Maternal Grandfather genetically matched with members of the Beaney family of Kent
I'm a complete amateur at Genealogy stuff but have been wandering down the rabbit hole for around a month now working off of my Mother's ancestry work and various other sources,
I think I'm making some headway but very aware of my potential confirmation bias and blind spots so I thought I'd call on the wealth of experience I see on these boards!
Basically, I have yet to find any link to the Beaneys on either tree, however I did find members of the Batchelor family on both trees, as the surname Batchelor appears on some lists of Traveller surnames I am wondering if this could be the link?
Other names in my ancestry which potentially could be linked to travellers are Robins (Sussex), Mepham (Sussex), Seager (Kent), Hollands (Kent), Day (Kent), Smith (Kent), Chapman (Essex) and Goldsmith (Sussex).
The majority of the people in these these family worked as rural labourers and some other trades eg. carpenters.
Most of the families on the list intermarried with other families off of this list.
One of the Robins clan lived on Burwash Common for a time in the 1800's and whose occupation was listed first as "Farm Labourer", then years later as "Practitioner of family medicine" so a quack doctor to be sure
The Batchelors of Kent may be connected to another group of Batchelors in Yorkshire who worked on the docks / as fisher people.
Casting the net wide I know! I live in hope as a few of you seem to be looking into some of same surnames in Kent, and clues greatly appreciated!
