William Scamp 1851–1931
Bill Scamp was the father of the singers Phoebe Smith and Charlie Scamp, and he was the source of some of the songs in Phoebe’s repertoire.
He was born – according to the information at findagrave.com – at Selling on 18th December 1851. He was the son of Riley Scamp and Sarah, née Lee. The 1861 census found the family living “In Tents, Broom Street, Graveney, Faversham”. Riley was listed as “Vagrant”. With him were three sisters and five brothers, their ages ranging from one to seventeen. Both William and his parents have proved elusive when searching the 1871 census, but in 1881 Riley and Sarah were in a “Gipseys Tent” at South Wall, Deal, while William was recorded at “New England under a Tent, Mersham”. His occupation was given as “Cutter & brazier” and he had with him two daughters and two sons, aged between 1 and 6: Clara Ann, Oliver, Betsy and George.
The Findagrave website records that in 1873 he married Louisa Lee, the daughter of Henry Lee and Mary Riley. She was born at Greenhithe on 10th May 1850, and bore William no fewer than sixteen children between 1870 and 1890 (this discrepancy between the birth of their first child and the date of their marriage rather flies in the face of the normal assertions – made for instance by Jasper Smith – that once a man and woman lay together they were considered married in the eyes of the Romany community). Sadly, one week after giving birth to her final child in 1892, she was admitted to Cane Hill Asylum, Coulsdon, Surrey. She died there on 26th Feb 1892, aged just 41, and was buried in the hospital cemetery.1
A couple of years after Louisa’s death Bill found himself in court and, subsequently, in prison. The Sussex Daily News, 26th September 1894, reported on his initial court hearing as follows:
REMARKABLE CHARGES OF THEFT.— William Scamp Mathews, a gipsy, was charged with stealing a brown mare, valued £12, at Crowborough, in October, 1893, the animal being the property of Frank Tompsett. Prosecutor said he turned the mare out in a field on October 12th, 1893, about 150 yards from his house, and fastened the gate. The next morning the mare was missing. On October 18th prosecutor and P.C. Allchorn went to New Cross, and found the mare in the yard of a person named Price. Witness did not know the prisoner. James Botton, of New Cross, deposed that he hired some stabling of Mr. Price. Prisoner, in October last year, drove up with the horse and wanted to sell it. Witness purchased the horse, cart, and harness for £6, and prisoner gave him a receipt for the money. Witness suspected subsequently that the horse, etc., had been stolen, and asked for his money back from Mathews. The latter said he had only £5 left, but would borrow the other and let him have it. Witness, however, saw no more of the man or the money. Witness gave up the horse and cart to Tomsett when the latter called with the police at New Cross. Prisoner here asked the Bench to make things light for him, as he had a lot of children, who were without a mother. He would not admit, however, that he had intended to steal the horse and cart. John Price, of Hale-street, Deptford, deposed that he let stables for hire. He remembered seeing a man drive up to his yard in October last year, and offer to sell a horse, cart, and harness, but witness did not purchase them. Witness had his suspicions, and informed the police of the matter. Witness had given the horse at his yard some good Deptford oats and beans, something better than Crowborough toppings (laughter). P.C. Allchorn deposed to finding the horse and cart at New Cross, and said he received Mathews on Monday week from the police at Tonbridge. Prisoner said he did not know where Crowborough was, but afterwards stated that he had been at Crowborough 14 years ago. Witness, however, had seen prisoner at Crowborough many times. Mathews was committed for trial at next Sussex Quarter Sessions.—He was next charged with stealing a light cart, valued at £12, from Thomas Smith, farmer, of Crowborough, on October, 1893. Prosecutor said he missed the cart from his yard at Crowborough, and had since identified it as his property. The previous witness Tompsett gave evidence as to finding the cart at New Cross, and P.C. Allchorn corroborated. Mathews was committed toc trial on this charge also.—Prisoner was further charged with stealing harness, valued at £2, from Job Smith. Job Smith, a dealer, said the harness was brass-mounted, and had been stolen from under a van at Crowborough on October 13th, 1893. The harness stolen was worth £2, and he identified it as his property. Prisoner was also committed for trial on this charge.
Essentially the same facts were rehearsed at the full trial, as reported in the Surrey Mirror, 20th October 1894
STEALING A CART : ROTHERFIELD
William Scamp, alias Mathew, 42, labourer, was indicted for feloniously stealing a mare, the property of Frank Tomsett, at Rotherfield, on October 12th, 1893; also for stealing on October 12th, 1893, a set of harness, the property of Job Smith; for stealing on October 18th, 1893, a cart, the property of Henry Smith.—Mr. W. W. Grantham prosecuted.—The charge of stealing the cart was first taken, and Mr. Henry Smith deposed to missing the vehicle on the day in question. He afterwards recovered it from the police.—A witness, named Botten, deposed to buying a cart from the prisoner in October 1893. He subsequently found something was wrong, and handed the cart over to the police.—P.C. Hawthorne said he received information about the matter about twelve months ago. About a month ago he saw prisoner at Crowborough, and arrested him.—Prisoner was found guilty, and a previous conviction was proved by a warder of the Canterbury prison.—The other charges were not proceeded with.—Prisoner asked for leniency on the ground that he had a large family, and no mother to look after them.— Sentenced to six months’ hard labour.
The previous conviction alluded to might have been for assault (Kentish Gazette, 12th July 1892), or being drunk and disorderly (Kentish Gazette, 20th May 1893). But, unusually, in neither case does the newspaper report mention that the defendant was a Gypsy; and, besides, there was at least one other man by the name of William Scamp living in Canterbury around this time.
In pleading for leniency with regard to the charges of theft, Bill sates that “he had a large family, and no mother to look after them”. Now, clearly, the children by his first wife Louisa had lost their mother. However later census data suggests that Bill had quickly remarried following Louisa’s death. His second wife was Ann Jones, who had been born at Forest Row, in Sussex, and their first child, Sydney, was born at Bexhill, Sussex, in March 1893. The 1901 census found the family residing at Stowting Lane, Stowting. The children with them at this time are listed below.
| First name | Relationship to Head | Age |
|---|---|---|
| George | Son | 21 |
| Saul | Daughter | 16 |
| Clementine | Daughter | 14 |
| William | Son | 13 |
| Flory | Daughter | 11 |
| Absey | Daughter | 9 |
| Sidney | Son | 7 |
| Riley | Daughter | 5 |
| Sam | Son | 2 |
| Polly | Daughter | 1 |
Presumably Absey was the final child born to Louisa, Sidney the first born to Ann.
Bill’s occupation in this census was given as “Hawker & peg maker”. His 21-year-old son George was down as “Peg maker”. A marginal note made by the enumerator states “All these people are living in tents. Gipseys alias Pikeys”.
By the time their daughter Phoebe was born in 1913 her parents had partially settled, although they still travelled around Kent and Essex for seasonal agricultural work. Phoebe was born in Tanner Street, Faversham. She told Peter Kennedy that when she was about four years old they went to live in Herne Bay, then to Ramsgate, when she was about ten, and later to Ickham. In 1921, the census enumerators found the family at Mystole Encampment, near Chilham. The children living with Bill and Ann at that time were listed as Sydney, Nigger, Joe, Louisa, Charlie, Edward, Henry, with seven-year-old Phoebe being the youngest. They were at that time going by the name of Matthews.2 The birth places listed for the children are evidence of the family’s peripatetic lifestyle: Bexhill, Hunton, Tenterden, Chilham and Faversham.
Bill Scamp died aged 79 at Minster-in-Thanet, on 22nd May 1931. He was buried in the cemetery at Minster-in-Thanet.3
- Louisa Lee Scamp, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242771238/louisa-scamp ↩︎
- 20th century records generally have the surname as Matthews with two Ts, while those from the 19th century appear to spell the name Mathews with one T. Since the family themselves were almost certainly illiterate, this can be put down to the preferences of census enumerator and others when transcribing the name. ↩︎
- William Scamp, Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244201038/william-scamp ↩︎
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