|
The first time RTFHS
had held an Open Day this far west. |
|
The first time we had
enjoyed the hospitality of a County Record Office as our venue. |
|
The first time (probably)
that the hushed tones of a Record Office had been broken by live
music, song and step dancing from a Romany band, children zooming
around on office chairs, and the soft pad, pad of the paws of
a friendly pet dog. |
|
In the lulls between
excited conversations with new found "cousins" and
the swapping of family stories, the venue provided an opportunity
to browse and dip into the surrounding bookshelves and also try
Ancestry.co.uk on the DRO's computers. The DRO team had also
sought out a number of documents, photos and publications of
direct Gypsy interest. |
|
These were joined by
the extensive photographic displays created by Janet Keet-Black
of Gypsies who served in the Armed Forces, and examples from
Jack Loveland's fine portraits of New Forest Gypsies, taken in
the 1960s. |
|
Parish register and census
listings from the Society's own library were also available for
research. |
|
(Extracted from a report
by Sharon Floate) |
