Charlie Smith (1956–2005) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Romanichal The Romanichal ( ; more commonly known as English Gypsies) are a Romani people, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom. Many Romanichal speak Angloromani, a mixed language that blends Romani language, Romani vocabulary with English syntax. Roma ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Early life

Charles Stephen Smith was born on the 20 June 1956 in

Rochford Rochford is a town and civil parish in the Rochford (district), Rochford District in Essex, England, north of Southend-on-Sea, from London and from Chelmsford. At the 2011 census, the Civil parishes in England, civil parish had a population ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

to Charles Smith and Peggy Smith, née Livermore. Smith's father was a popular tailor within the English Romani community. Smith had two sisters. Smith grew up in Hadleigh as part of the

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

Romani community. Leaving school at age 14–15, Smith believed himself to be illiterate.

Career

In the early 1970s Smith began selling

antiques An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

, specialising in early

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

sets and fine bone china.

Political career and activism

In the early 1980s, Smith joined the National Gypsy Education Council, and in 1990 succeed Peter Mercer as

Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

. Smiths leadership was characterised by moves towards NGO-isation, and was emblematic of the larger shift towards

professionalisation Professionalization or professionalisation is a social process by which any trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often contested. ...

within the British Roma Civil Rights Movement. Renamed as the Gypsy Council for Education, Welfare and Civil Rights, Smith remained Chair until his death in 2005. Smith was a member of the Labour party, and from 1995–2003 was the Labour Party Councillor for Cedar Hall

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Castle Point Castle Point is a local government district with borough status in south Essex, England, lying around east of London. The borough comprises the towns of South Benfleet, Hadleigh and Thundersley (where the council is based) on the mainland, a ...

Borough Council. Smith was a member of the Labour Party Campaign for Travellers' Rights (LCTR). Following the death of Arthur Stevens Smith became

Deputy Mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

of Castle Point Borough Council in 2001. in 2002 became the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Castle Point Borough Council, making Smith the first Romani Mayor in the UK. Together with Janie Codona , Smith represented the Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition during the fourteenth session of the Joint Committee On Human Rights. From April 2004 until his death, Smith was a commission member of the

Commission for Racial Equality In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

Poetry, film and literacy career

Smith began writing poetry in the 1980s. In 1980, a booklet of Smith's poems was published, which included the acclaimed "Space Gypsies" poem.. Smith had two books of poetry published, ''The Spirit of the Flame'' (c.1990) and ''Not all Waggons and Lanes'' (1995). From its 2002 inception Smith was on the board of directors of the International Romani Writers' Association (). Smith collaborated with

Jeremy Sandford Christopher Jeremy Sandford (5 December 1930 – 12 May 2003) was an English television screenwriter who came to prominence in 1966 with ''Cathy Come Home'', his controversial entry in BBC1's ''The Wednesday Play'' anthology strand, which w ...

on the 1995 film 'Spirit of the Gypsies'. Following the completion of his Mayoral term, Smith directed the documentary ''Footsteps in the Sand'' about the annual Romany festival in

Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (, alternatively with the definite article Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, "(the) Saint Marys of the Sea", locally Les Saintes, ; Provençal: ''Lei Santei Marias de la Mar'' or ''Li Sànti Marìo de la Mar'' ), is the c ...

Camargue The Camargue (, also , , ; ) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''P ...

for the Gypsy Council.

Personal life

In 1979, Smith married Elaine Loveridge and moved to

Thundersley Thundersley is a town in the Castle Point borough of southeast Essex, England. It sits on a clay ridge shared with Basildon and Hadleigh, east of Charing Cross, London. In 2011 it had a population of 24,800. The ecclesiastical parish of Thu ...

. Smith and Loveridge had one son before later divorcing. In 1995, Smith was diagnosed with

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, and subsequently lived with cancer for 10 years. Smith lived openly with his partner George Wilson, who cared for Smith in his final years.

Publications

* Smith, Charlie S., (1987). "God is a Gypsy". In Binns, Dennis (ed.). ''Gavvered all around : A collection of Gypsy poetry''. Manchester: Travellers Education Service. * Smith, Charlie. (c.1990) ''The Spirit of the Flame: Poems''. Manchester: Abbott C.P. School; Manchester: Travellers Education Service. * Smith, Charles. (1995) ''Not all Waggons and Lanes: Poems''. Essex: Essex County Council. * Smith, Charlie.(1998). "Up the chimneys". In Hancock, Ian; Dowd, Siobhan; Djuric, Rajko (eds.). ''The Roads of the Roma: a PEN anthology of Gypsy writers'' (1 ed.). Hatfield: Unversity of Hertfordshire Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-0-900458-90-3. * (2004) ''Footsteps in the Sand''. The Gypsy Council for Education, Welfare and Civil Rights (Film) * Acton, Thomas, and Andrew Ryder (2014). "Charles Smith: The Fashioning of an Activist". In Ryder, Andrew; Cemlyn, Sarah; Acton, Thomas (eds.) ''Hearing the Voices of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Communities: Inclusive Community Development''. Bristol: Bristol University Press. pp. 67–82

Notes

: Also called ''Gavvered all around : an anthology of thirty poems written by ten Gypsy poets''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Charlie 1956 births 2005 deaths People from Thundersley English Romani people Romani poets Romanichal people Romani politicians Romani rights activists Romani activists Mayors of places in Essex English male poets 20th-century English poets 20th-century English male writers