Scamp - The Genealogy of a Gypsy Family

SCAMP THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NAME

The distribution of the name can be seen from an analysis of the GRO records 1840 to 1989 which can be found in The Data Base. There are two main concentrations of the name over this period, one in Devon and one in Kent, the latter being mainly travellers until the beginning of the 20th century, a fact which is only evident from the parish records.
The parish records show that the Devon SCAMPs can trace their origins back to the mid 16th Century, whereas the presence of the name in Kent is already very sparse when looking back only as far the early 18th century. Of course, this may be more due the natural reluctance of the gypsies to have anything to do with officialdom rather an indication of an actual absence of individuals of that name. In fact, a study of the GRO data for births in Kent during the first decades of civil registration might lead to the conclusion that the birth rate in that county was rising and would appear to reinforce the view that the population steadily increased from 1700 onwards were it not clear from the baptism records that many births were simply not recorded at the beginning of civil registration. As for Devon, and Gloucestershire too, the observed decline in population for those counties would appear to be a real one and is supported by the parish records going back as far as the 16th century; these people had no reason to fear authority and the records are in consequence quite complete.
Thus, it can be stated that, while the populations in Devon and Gloucestershire were in steady decline since the start of civil registration and much earlier, the population in Kent probably remained relatively stable until the last few decades when it began a sharp increase at the same time that centres of population developed in Essex and Lancashire. The source of these new populations has yet to be determined; naming patterns unfortunately do not give much indication whether they are from Devon or Kent families.
The name SCAMP does of course occur in other counties throughout the 150 years that the GRO records cover, however, it should be noted that these tend to be random events and represent on average 15 percent of the total events for each decade over the whole period; thus, the five counties of Devon, Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent and Lancashire account for 85 percent of events in most decades.
For more information click on the links below to refer to tables providing the numbers of events (Birth, Marriages, Deaths & Total Events B+M+D) for each county and each decade for the period 1840 to 1989. In addition, a graphical presentation is provided of the evolution of the population for the same period for each type of event for the counties of Devon, Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent and Lancashire