Francis Hindes Groome (30 August 1851 – 24 January 1902) was a writer and foremost commentator of his time on the

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

, their

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

, life, history, customs, beliefs, and lore. He was the son of Robert Hindes Groome, Archdeacon of Suffolk.

Life

Groome was born at his father's rectory in

Monk Soham Monk Soham is a village in Suffolk, eastern England, four miles (6.4 km) northeast of Debenham and six miles (10 km) northwest of Framlingham. The neighbouring villages are Bedfield, Ashfield cum Thorpe, Kenton, Suffolk, Kenton and Bed ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, on 30 August 1851. He was educated at

Ipswich School Ipswich School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. North of the town centre, Ipswich School has four parts on three adjacent sites. The Pre-Prep and Nur ...

, where his lifelong interest in Romanies was sparked, and continued at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He left Oxford without taking a degree, spent some time at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, in Germany, and then for six years lived with Romani at home and abroad. He married a woman of Romani blood, Esmeralda Locke, in 1876 and settled down to regular literary work in Edinburgh. Francis Hindes Groome

Groome contributed generously and on a variety of subjects to such publications as the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...

'', the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'', the ''Athenaeum'', ''Johnson's Universal Cyclopedia'', ''The Bookman'', ''Chambers' Biographical Dictionary'', the ''

Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland Ordnance may refer to: Military and defense *Materiel in military logistics, including weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment *Artillery *Artillery shells *Aircraft ordnance, weapons carried by and used by an aircraft ...

'' (in six volumes), and as joint editor, with his father and poet Edward Fitzgerald, of "Suffolk Notes and Queries" for the ''Ipswich Journal''. His article on 'Gipsies', in the ninth edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', made him known to the world as a "gypsyologist". In 1899 he published his most significant book for folklorists, ''Gypsy Folk-Tales''. These well-annotated collections are a significant addition to the comparative study of the world's folktales. He also co-edited the first three volumes of ''

Gypsy Lore Society The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in Great Britain in 1888 to unite persons interested in the history and lore of Gypsies and rovers and to establish closer contacts among scholars studying aspects of such cultures. History David MacRitchie wa ...

's Journal'', and wrote nineteen brief articles and collections of folktales for it. He wrote a number of books including a novel of Romani life, an English–Scottish border history, a sketch of his father and Fitzgerald, and an autobiographical account of his time living with the Romani. Groome was a sub-editor of ''

Chambers's Encyclopaedia ''Chambers's Encyclopaedia'' was founded in 1859Chambers, W. & R"Concluding Notice"in ''Chambers's Encyclopaedia''. London: W. & R. Chambers, 1868, Vol. 10, pp. v–viii. by William and Robert Chambers of Edinburgh and became one of the most ...

''; joint-editor of the 1897 edition of ''Chamber's Dictionary of Biography''. A singularly alert, swift, and eager intellect, he was unwearied in research, impatient of anything less than precision, a frank and fearless critic; thoroughly at home in wide fields of historical and philological research, and in some of them a master. He was nicknamed the “Tarno Rye”.

Death

Groome died on 24 January 1902, aged 50, in London. He was buried at Monk Soham, Suffolk.

Legacy

In October 1901, Groome's library of books, letters, and manuscripts bearing upon the study of the Romani was purchased by the

Boston Athenæum The Boston Athenaeum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of a number of membership libraries, for which patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use Athenaeum services. The institution was founded in ...

. The collection comprises over one hundred volumes, some which are rare, and others contain rare tracts and magazine articles. There are also Groome's own books with his marginal additions, over thirty volumes of manuscript notes, lectures, and his correspondence with M. Paul Bataillard, the eminent French student of the Romani, covering the years 1872 to 1880.

Works

Books and articles written on the Romani People: * ''The Gipsies: Reminiscences and Social Life of this Extraordinary Race'' (1881
Google Books
* ''In Gipsy Tents'' (1881
Google Books
* ''Gipsy folk-tales : A Missing Link'' (1888
Athenaeum catalog
* ''The Influence of the Gypsies on the Superstitions of the English folk.'' (1892
Boston Athenaeum catalog
* ''Tobit and Jack the Giant-Killer'' (1898
Boston Athenaeum catalog
* ''Gypsy Folk-tales'' (1899
Internet Archive
* ''Antonio de Solario'' (undated
Boston Athenaeum catalog
Other non-fiction: * ''The Only Darter: a Suffolk clergyman's reminiscence'
Boston Athenaeum catalog
* ''Two Suffolk Friends'' (1895
Google Books
* ''Edward FitzGerald: an Aftermath'' (1902
Google Books
* ''A Short Border History'' 188
Google Books
Fiction: * ''Kriegspiel: The War Game'' (1896
Internet Archive
Editor: * ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: a Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical, and Historical'' * ''

Lavengro ''Lavengro: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest'' (1851) is a work by George Borrow, falling somewhere between the genres of memoir and novel, which has long been considered a classic of 19th-century English literature. According to the author, i ...

'' (1901 edition) * ''

Journal,'' Volume 1–3 * '' Chamber's Biographical Dictionary'' (1897 edition)

Notes

References

* *

External links

Biography
at the

Gazetteer for Scotland The ''Gazetteer for Scotland'' is a gazetteer covering the geography, history and people of Scotland. It was conceived in 1995 by Bruce Gittings of the University of Edinburgh and David Munro of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and co ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Groome, Francis Hindes 1851 births 1902 deaths People from Mid Suffolk District Romani studies scholars English folklorists English lexicographers British academic journal editors People educated at Ipswich School 19th-century British lexicographers