Four Big Fat Gypsy Weddings and a Funeral

While researching gypsy ancestors, I discovered some interesting reports on local ‘gipsy’ happenings. The weddings must have been as much of a spectacle then as they are now (thanks to television programmes like ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’).

Oh, if only there were photographs!

…The bride wore a gorgeous dress of maroon plush, surmounted by an immense hat covered with waving ostrich feathers.  Her bridesmaid was attired in a costume of golden plush. The bridegroom and his friend were in velvet with vermilion neckties…

gipsy nuptials
The Leek Post, 20 Aug 1898, p8
newspaper clipping
Tamworth Herald, 23 Dec 1882, p6
gipsy wedding at windsor - newspaper clipping
Tamworth Herald, 23 Aug 1890, p6

This fourth wedding was a lot less ostentatious but nonetheless interesting:

newspaper clipping
Tamworth Herald, 27 July 1878, p4

And lastly, the funeral.  The journalist obviously thought the deceased’s death was interesting enough to write about, but apparently not enough to include her name:

gipsy funeral
The Staffordshire Sentinel, 31 Jan 1863, p2

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