In this episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Gary Stanley and learns about his work to research his Romany ancestors, and to share data and archival references with others with Romany roots too. He explains how he got interested in researching his family history, the challenges of researching Romany roots, and his participation in DNA research with Professor Turi King.

Listen to the episode

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and others…

The Life Story – Elizabeth Nichols

Gary has chosen to tell the life story of one of his Romany relatives Elizabeth Nichols… and it is quite extraordinary!

Elizabeth appeared to baptise a child, with the father noted as Antonio Nichols – a Portuguese sailor. Then Gary finds another baptism… then another… except the baptisms spread around the area, and sometimes the details are a little different. Sometimes Elizabeth’s surname is Nichols, Nicholas, or Nicholson, sometimes it’s Stivery or Twivey. Sometimes Antonio is deceased or at sea.

This pattern intrigued Gary, and following the clues and an incredible amount of research, he has found around 600 baptisms during the 1830s! So many, that he even created a website to map them around England and Scotland.

It’s very clear that Elizabeth did not have 600 children, and the register entries note that sometimes the child is a new-born, or of a few years old. So, did Elizabeth have a few children that could span this age?

The question is obviously; Why go to this much effort? Gary believes that in order for Elizabeth to receive parish relief (a monetary benefit paid by the church), the child had to be baptised. Given Elizabeth’s Romany heritage, she moved around regularly, and therefore amassed 600 known baptisms for her children, in order to receive relief!

The Brick Wall – Elizabeth Nichols

Connecting directly to the Life Story that Gary has told, is his brick wall.

Gary may well have found hundreds of baptisms for her children, but he’s wanting to find out;

• Where was Elizabeth Nichols before the 1830s
• What became of Elizabeth Nichols after 1840s?

If you think you have a research idea or clue to help Gary with his research, you can send him a message via his website, alternatively, you can send us a message and we’ll pass it along to him.

In the meantime, Andrew offers Gary some help, but will he be judged on his effort?

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Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
• Gary Stanley – Guest