Please help? Are these traveller names?

[philosophie89]

Hi all!
I'd be thrilled if someone could please help me with my query!

I have traced my ancestry back to a Thomas Gribble (1788-1843) in the St. George parish area in Bristol (which I have read was formerly part of Gloucestershire). Thomas married Hester Avery and their children's names were Silvanus, Jeremiah, Elizabeth, Hester, and William.
I have traced this family back further to an "Ezekiel Gribble".


Thomas' son William's marriage record his occupation was "comb maker".
Elizabeth married a Noah Churchill and her children's names were Mercy, Job, Noah etc
Silvanus' occupation on one of the 1800s census' was "pipe maker".

I was informed by a reliable source, a traveller himself, who advised that these names are romany gypsy/ traveller and that the surname "Avery" is also a known gypsy surname.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

[Darnity]

I looked in Bob Dawson's Romany in the Family which is a good starting point when looking at potential Traveller surnames and he lists Avery but not Gribble.

The reference is 1847 GLS which I think means he's seen a written instance of Avery in Gloucestershire in 1847 where the context identifies the person as being a member of the Traveller community.

Bristol was in Gloucestershire and Somerset so your Bristol reference is looking good.

If you can find a copy of My Ancestors Were Gypsies by Sharon Sillers Floate in a library I'd suggest having a read of that to give you some ideas as to what you are looking for in relation to this Avery family.

I googled "avery 1847 gloucestershire" and it found a number of things so try that and have a look and see if any of those give you any useful information.

One of them was https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/learning-for-all/online-exhibitions/i-didnt-know-you-had-that/ which appears to have one Avery reference but I haven't read it.

You need to do a family tree for Hester (may also be written as Est(h)er) Avery and follow her siblings too to see if you can find any more evidence of Traveller ancestry.

Hope this helps.