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Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month

Established in June 2008, GRTHM is an annual celebration of the histories and cultures of Traveller communities in the UK.

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller People

Gypsy Lore Society

The University of Liverpool Library has extensive Gypsy Lore Society Collections. Founded in Great Britain in 1888 as "an international association of persons interested in Gypsy and Traveler Studies," The Gypsy Lore Society describes its goals as "promotion of the study of these [many different] communities, their history and cultures worldwide; dissemination of accurate information aimed at increasing understanding of them in their diverse forms; and establishment of closer contacts among scholars studying any aspects of these cultures."

Dora Yates (right) was a Romani scholar born in Liverpool in 1879. In 1899 she graduated university with a first class degree in English, Latin, German, and Anglo-Saxon. She also began researching the work of Romani scholar G H Borrow in her spare time, eventually becoming an expert in Romani language and culture. She often professed her abiding admiration for the Roma, calling them the only "free race" on Earth. When the Lore Society was revived in 1922 she became its de facto Secretary, although this role was not made official until 1932. In the early 1970s she was still active as an officer of the Society when in her 90s.  

Appleby Horse Fair

The Appleby Horse Fair website contains details of this year's Fair as well as a set of FAQs and travel information.

Musician and Traveller rights activist Bill Lloyd (left), who will be one of our guest speakers at our June 5th 2023 event in the Library, is Secretary of the Appleby Fair Hill Committee. He has written a number of blog posts on his website detailing some of the challenges and socio-political issues surrounding the Fair. 

There are undoubtedly tensions with the local community. Shera Rom (Head Gypsy) Billy Welch told the Travellers Times in 2022 that he had been expressing his fears about the Fair becoming too big to manage to anyone who would listen for many years: "I did warn Eden Council 23 or 24 years ago that if more local land-owners opened up extra campsites they would let the genie out of the bottle," he says. "I said the fair is going to get too big and it will smother the traditional Gypsy fair on Fair Hill. I said once the genie is out of the bottle it will be really hard to get it back in. But they didn’t listen to me. And now it’s me and my people who are getting the blame." He says he is more than willing to sit down with Appleby residents to discuss how the experience of the Fair can be improved "for both the local community and genuine Gypsies and Traveller fair-goers.”

Head Gypsy (Shera Rom) Billy Welch