As far as I can see, Annie was no gypsy. She was a servant as a girl, which was common enough, made quite a good marriage to a man who was a grocer, eventually apparently with his own shop. When she was widowed she had to go back to work as a cook, possibly in a hotel or restaurant, to support her youngest child. Her husband was not a travelling salesman and this is not the sort of job wives inherited anyway. 'Salesman' when used alone often means meat salesman' (not a commercial rep) though as Ambrose was later a grocer, he was perhaps a more general shop assistant in a grocery at first. Her husband moved around quite a bit in course of his work, from Lambeth to Soho to Clerkenwell - maybe someone in the family said 'Our Annie's always moving'. Possibly she made enough once Rosa was married to do a bit of travelling for pleasure even. Her brothers were comfortably off craftsmen, so might have sprung her a holiday as a gift. Ambrose's father does seems to have moved around - he was a printseller and often from home, but left his wife comfortably provided for (which Ambrose, dying relatively young, didn't). You might have described the father as 'a traveller' for business purposes. EVE have jobs at this time that would mean she travelled during the course of the job. Unfortunately I donTMt have any family members alive that could shed light on this mystery. > > In the 1861 census she is described as a general servant and in 1901 as cook, not domestic. There is no date on the information to act as reference > > cheers Sheila > > > . > ************************************** > Send your List messages using **PLAIN TEXT** and always **TRIM AWAY** superfluous old messages in replies. > > **MEANINGFUL Subject Lines - who, what, where, when, with SURNAMES in CAPITAL letters** > > List Admin can be contacted at: [email protected] > . > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Author of The McLaughlin Guides for Family Historians Secretary, Bucks Genealogical Society

Eve, How do you know that Ambrose had his own shop? cheers Sheila As far as I can see, Annie was no gypsy. She was a servant as a girl, which was common enough, made quite a good marriage to a man who was a grocer, eventually apparently with his own shop. EVE