Duberley/Gypsy Connection (Urgent)

by Drewson, Saturday, July 26, 2025, 23:00 (25 days ago)

Hi, my names Will Duberley, was told my Dads side of family were French gypsies/travellers, i've already done research on ancestry.com and already have a Duberley Link going back to 1564 William Doberle most likely from other Duberley's efforts however i've not found any linkage to French heritage, my theory is that we were French Huguenots who settled here. i'm more just surprised how rare the name is and how its solely focused around Ruardean, if someone knows more about any French Romani migrations to the area or any French Romani or any Romani heritage would be appreciated. Im confident there is Romani linkage maybe not French but my family are overwhelmingly coal miners, masonry, loggers which doesn't seem typical work for gypsies. I had a theory it might be from another part of my family, my great great great grandmother Ada Baldwin as i heard the Baldwin surname had links to gypsies, also the Surnames Meek, Knight, Wilks, Davis all appear in my family tree. Out of Tom and Ada's nine kids im directly related to Austin Duberley if that helps. The only possible connection so far is my great great grandmother Cecily Ann Wilks married to Austin Duberley, whose family seems to show up in another tree the Lewis-Whitehead families. Thats all i currently have, im taking a DNA test to help support other theories because my DNA has shown up before with elevated levels that are usually found in Romani e.g. South/South Central Asian. Just want to know where this oral tradition came from that we're French gypsies.