Tinker = Romany??

[mike4301]

Not sure if my Hall/Bradley family were Romany or not. In Manchester they did jobs like Marine store dealer and Ragbone man and later greengrocers. They kept horses and my mum remembers visiting caravans as a child with her grandad. My gt grandfather and his brother both had dark complexion on their WW1 war records. They came from Tipton and Sedgley area originally.Would love to find out more and am still searching. Another name connected was Tolley ? thanks Michael

[Steve G]

Michael; Hall absolutely definitely is a name found on Romani Gypsys. Dunno about the other two. Have a sniff around ye Hall's. What they did. Where they did it. With whom. Most of all; Who they married.

And, yes; Settled Gypsys are buggers for fruit and veg'.




Edited to add: Why in gods name did I originally call you " Tom "? Where the hell did That come from?!  Sorry about that. Hope it didn't lead to too much confusion 

[rebekahm28]

Oh, lots of Tolley's in Headington quarrey, you can read lots about that.

[polomint]

Way back in my family tree I have a female ancestor whose forename was Vashti, I've never come across it before but always thought it could be a Romani name. Any thoughts?

[Steve G]

Polomint; I'd dare to suggest that our Cathay_B would be ideally placed to give a full response on that one 

[rebekahm28]

It's a Romany gypsy name and also found in Israel. I have vashdi's from headington quarrey in Oxford in my tree.

[polomint]

Thank you Rebekah, I always thought it might be. I don't have a maiden name for her or any other information but the branch of the family she married into was in Oxfordshire, North Moreton.

[youngtug]

It's a Persian name. Queen Vashti in the book of Esther in the bible.

[polomint]

Maybe it was just an Old Testament name popular at the time, like Leah which was my grandmother's name. Although I quite like the idea of the Romani connection.