Hi Veneita
"How can I find out if my ancestors where Gypsy
I cant find my Grandfathers birth Certificate any were
I was told that his father was a gypsies Idon't know weather to be leave it
can any one help"
I've been helping a friend research her family history and in doing so
discovered her grandmother was a gypsy. At first it seemed hopeless as we
couldn't find her birth certificate (still haven't) and we were told that
gypsies often didn't bother to register BMD events.
However one year on we have had quite a lot of success. We have found that
a lot of the relevant BMD records are just not there, but plenty are. Also
we have found that the gypsies almost always baptise their children,
sometimes in more than one church! But of course you need to know where to
look in order to find those records.
Census records have been hit and miss, particularly the 1881 and earlier,
but we have been able to find a lot of her family in census records. Some
were in what was obviously a large gypsy camp and others were added on at
the end of a district (one had an address "wooden house on wheels").
Although we didn't have the birth certificate, we got started with her
marriage certificate, but we were lucky as she was born just before 1901 and
both she and her father had relatively uncommon names and were enumerated in
the 1901.
One other thing we have found is that particuarly with gypsies born from
around 1900 onwards that there has sometimes been a slight name change
between birth and death.. For example a man with the first name Woodfine
(we found his baptism and his marriage certificate) had an extra name by the
time of his son's marriage and his death - he had become Edward Woodfine.
It could be that your grandfather's birth was registered under a different
name than he was known as. If his surname was not too common and you know
approximately when he was born, then it may be worth looking again to see if
you can find any likely candidates.
Christian names are often unusual and therefore when found in census records
are usually spelled differently in each census For example going back to
Woodfine again. He was recorded as Woodbine, Woodvine - that one was easy
but we still haven't worked out what the actual christian name of one of her
ancestors that was recorded as Rabbi, Raboy and Rebi in various census
records.
So don't just "leave it" - have a go. Being perfectly honest, I've
found my
friends gypsy ancestors really interesting, they have made a refreshing
change from my many ag labs!
Good Luck
Caroline
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