Skip to main content

Groome, Francis Hindes, 1851-1902 (scholar of Gypsy life and writer)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1851 - 1902

Biography

Francis Hindes Groome was born at the rectory of Monk Soham, Suffolk, on 30 August 1851. He attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, but did not take a degree. After living with Gypsy communities at home and abroad, he settled in Edinburgh in 1876. Groome joined Messrs Chambers in 1885, and was sub-editor of Chambers's encyclopaedia (10 vols, 1888-1892). He published 'In gipsy tents' in 1880, and 'Gypsy folk tales' in 1899. He died in London on 24 January 1902.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

 Fonds

John Roberts: Copies of his letters to Francis Hindes Groome, scholar of Gypsy life

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.8418
Scope and Contents

A typescript copy, made by R.A.S. Macfie of letters written to F.H. Groome with manuscript annotations. There are 201 numbered pages, of which the last 17 are blank. The letters are from John Roberts, with the exception of the final letter, written by Groome's mother-in-law. The script includes early examples of Welsh Romani [Romany], for which there are 'hasty, unstudied translations' made by Macfie in September 1926.

Dates: 1876-1880 (circa. Date of transcript: 1907)
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).