Hi all, my mum tells me that her grandfather Charlie Nicholls (born 1878) could speak Romany, and that he had Romany symbols of some kind carved into his gateposts. When the gypsies were in town, they would go to Charlie if they needed help. Charlie's father was Abraham Nicholls (born 1835 - he married Mary Spice); Abraham was the son of Richard Nicholls, and Richard's wife Elizabeth was the daughter of Hezekiah Kite (born 1789). They seem rather setlled to be travelling folk, all based around the Bapchild/Teynham area, near Sittingbourne in Kent, but I'd be very interested if anyone knows whether the family had Romany connections.
Cheers, Liz
