Researching Itinerant Ancestors (244)

Many of our ancestors’ lives conformed to a pattern which allows us to trace their stories, normally without too much difficulty, even if they moved to a different part of the country or migrated to another country entirely in search of work and a new life. However, there are some specific groups of people and families whose lives deviated from most mainstream norms, be that as a result of their culture, occupations or their personal circumstances. They include Romany Gypsies, entertainers, navvies, hawkers, travelling salesmen and vagabonds.

This course focuses on families and individuals who did not have a particularly settled home or base, did not live in a specific community for any appreciable period, or whose work made them peripatetic, rather than those individuals and families who moved in order to settle in a different part of the UK or emigrated to a new country. The main focus is on England and Wales, but where relevant the course also touches on sources relevant to Scotland and Ireland.

There are five lessons, looking at the following topics:

Background - Beyond the mainstream

• General migration patterns of a majority of families and individuals
• Why did some people not conform to this pattern?
• Different categories of itinerant families and individuals
• Signs that an ancestor was itinerant

Romany Gypsy ancestors and hawkers

• Background to Romany history and culture
• Romany occupations
• Traditional Romany routes
• Romany families on the censuses
• Parish registers & Court records

Entertainers

• The development of entertainment during the nineteenth century
• Entertainers: actors, music hall performers, fairground & circus workers
• Collections and databases relating to actors and theatres
• Newspapers: how to glean information from adverts and reviews in the press
• Stage names
• Entertainers travelling abroad

Itinerant manual workers – the navvies

• Navvies - who were they?
• Where they worked
• Tracing navvies and their families
• Accidents and deaths

Making the most of the sources 

• Poor law/workhouse records
• Court and police records
• Newspapers
• Occupational directories
• Strategise and be systematic