Our Rodney

I have just had the delightful opportunity to get to know – slightly – some of the travelling ladies of Gainsborough. Preconceived ideas went out of the window and a unique way of looking at life came in. The event was a workshop to look at family trees with the emphasis on the Romany/Gipsy/Traveller records. Most people will say that there would be little that can be found on the traveller but when I looked up the only gypsy that I know – Gypsy SMITH born in 1860 – he said in his book that gipsies always had their children baptised as it was a matter of business and so are recorded. After a short pause one of the ladies mentioned, in a matter of fact way, that Gypsy SMITH had come up with the “Gypsy Gospel Wagon” as part of the Salvation Army into which he had been invited by General BOOTH and was her great-great-Uncle. The event was set up by Elizabeth TAYLOR and Paul BOUCHER. Both of these are occupational names. The TAILOR we all know but BOUCHER comes from the Old French bouchier and thence to Middle English boucher and the more familiar butcher. Another occupational name is that of BIDDLE. This is a just a change in the spelling of the official known as the Beadle. The job was made famous through Charles DICKENS books.
Some of the names that came up were highly concentrated into specific areas. One of the least spread out was that of RICKER. Found in one small area in the middle of England this is a variation on the Christian name Richard which makes it odd that there are so few. Another centralised name is that of CALLADINE. Found mainly in the Nottingham and Derby areas this name is of unknown origin but thought to be connected in some way to CARWARDINE. CARWARDINE does have an origin from the place in Cheshire called Carden which in the 13th century was spelt Kawrdin.
One of the things I noticed was the Irish accent that was prevalent. Not really surprising really as most of the travellers have Irish links of one kind or another but some of these links are many years ago. Two names of Irish ancestry turned up even though one of these was a helper and not a client. The first was DUFFY. This has links to Scotland as well as Ireland with dubh - duff being the gaelic word for black. The Gaelic O’DUBHTHAIGH would have been a descendant of someone with the name Dubhthach and this was borne by a 6th century saint from Armagh. The name we now have as O’FARRELL also comes from a forename and the ‘correct’ spelling was O’ FEARGHAIL and this time was the descendant of Fearghal .
A locational name next. HALLAM which is in a regional name around southern Yorkshire is thought to be of the same type root at ALLAM and the name ALLUM. These two come from the south of the country and the place name Alham which is in Somerset.
And finally a nickname. The Old Norse frio meant seed and this evolved into offspring, child or small person. In fact just a small FRY.
Bits and Bobs
Thanks to the Internet the information that there is a Lincolnshire burial to be found in Tuddenham St.Mary Suffolk parish registers - 10 August 1628 John WALKER of Wigstoft Lincs, a traveller – and is passed on to interested parties by Margaret Taylor who lives in Toronto.
The ease with which data can be found and passed around the world continues to astonish me.

Where Has All The Money Gone?

The question everyone wants to know the answer to is what happened to John ROLLITT who disappeared with a load of money in 1808? Perhaps not everyone but Helen ASH would be interested as he is on one of the branches in her family tree. I believe that John was eventually found for he is recorded in the 1841 census. Aged around 80 years of age (the 1841 census rounds the age of adults down to the nearest 5 years) this would put is birth date at approx 1761. The newspaper said that he was aged 45 years old in 1808 which gives a birth date of 1763. This looks like the man we want. He is listed as being of Independent Means on the census so this indicates money from somewhere. It does not say whether the Elizabeth aged 53 years who is living at the same house was his wife or daughter. It is unlikely that any of us will take our wealth with us when we pop our clogs so a search of the Lincolnshire Archives Wills should say what is left behind. The only John ROLLITT Will I found was dated 1905 and he was a grocer in Navenby. The surname has a somewhat complicated history. Beginning with the spelling ROELET in 1280 in Hampshire it was a variation on the Christian name Rowland. The similar sounding surname variation RAULOT in Sussex has originated from Raul or Ralph. The thinking is that due to the popularity of Rolland and instead of the English version developing as RAWLETT it ended up at ROLLETT

The Petty Session at Lincoln in 1850 showed the rather anti-traveller bias that was felt in 19^th century Lincolnshire. This was partly due to the fact that if a parish was not careful it could find itself liable for the upkeep of poor people from other parts of the country. Lincoln City Petty Sessions - 12
September 1850 - Joseph TURNEY, fellmonger, of Ashby de la Zouch, was ordered to pay 2s weekly towards the support of the illegitimate child of Eliz. FORMAN. It was stated that the poor woman had been under the necessity of pawning her clothing to raise the means of fetching the man up to Lincoln. TURNEY said he had to pay nearly 2s weekly to the fund of his own trade towards the maintenance of tramps. The Mayor said he had better give over paying, as it was only encouraging an idle set of scamps to prowl about the country, and there would always be tramps while people supported them.

Bits and Bobs

Have you lost a relative – you just never know when they will turn up.

From a Waukesha newspaper, Wisconsin, USA - ROBERT BRAY, Pewaukee; is a native of Lincolnshire, Eng.; was born in the town of Winterton, Jan. 10, 1853. In his native town he learned the mason's trade; Sept. 6, 1872, he married, in Lincolnshire, Emily KENDALL They emigrated to this country in 1873; located in Pewaukee, Waukesha Co., Wis., where they have since resided; they have three children. Mr. Bray takes contracts in brick and stone work, and, being a thorough mechanic, he is steadily engaged. He was Village Marshal in 1879.

Robert returned to England with their three US born sons in 1884 and they are to be found on the Yorkshire 1901 census. However they did not stay and in 1808 they entered the US at Ellis Island on their way "home" to Winnipeg which suggests that they came to Canada earlier. Certainly one of Robert's sons, George Matthew Bray, arrived in Canada in 1905. George Matthew died in Los Angeles.