George Scamp, 1858– ?
When recorded by Peter Kennedy, after singing the song ‘Molly Varden’, Phoebe Smith said “My uncle used to sing that one”. The following conversation then ensued:
Peter Kennedy: Tell us about your uncle, then. His name was George?
Phoebe Smith: Well, his name was George Scamp. Yes. And he was really a great singer. He could sing any song, any style, you know, like a lady or a gentleman. He had a beautiful voice… voice of all… all types you know, all types of songs. He could really fit in and sing them lovely. And he yes, he used to sing that very well.
PK: He travelled the country, didn’t it?
PS: Yes he was a great traveller.
PK: And what part of the country did he used to…?
PS: Well, he used to travel all around England, you know, and of course, I mean, I was very young then, I don’t really know much about him. I used… come and see us, you know, he always used to make a fuss of me, pick me up and carry me in his arms and all that. But not really old enough then to know much about him, you see, ‘cause… I mean, I were the youngest one of the family, and of course they were all getting on [word indistinct] you see when I were growing up.
PK: Did he travel by himself or with another family or…?
PS: No, with his own family, just with his own family.
PK: In a waggon?
PS: Yes. Waggon, horse. Well, I mean, as the family grew up he had more you see. Two, two or three. Because he had a nice family and he had another son, he had a son named Henry, and oh, he were a marvellous singer. He was really a beautiful singer.1
George Scamp was a younger brother of Phoebe’s father, William, and he was in his mid-fifties when Phoebe was born. He was baptised on 23rd February 1858 at the church of Saints Peter & Paul, Charing. He was the son of Riley Scamp and Sarah, née Lee. The family’s residence at the time was given as “Camped in the Road in Westwell”. Three years later, at the time of the 1861 census, George was with his parents, five brothers and three sisters, “In Tents, Broom Street, Graveney, Faversham”.
It was probably the same George Scamp who, aged thirteen in 1871, the census enumerators found in one of several gypsy tents at Borstal Heath, Plumstead, Woolwich. His birth place was given as “Kent, Cherry” but that could easily have been a mishearing of Charing. The Head of the household was recorded as Salamander Scamp, a 24 year old woman, whose name does not appear in any other official records. With her were five brothers: Riely, Sampson, Cloranda, George and Sidney; and two sisters: Mary and Marrille. Their ages ranged from five to twenty four, and all were listed as “Hawker of bee hives etc.”
Ten years later he was back with his parents in East Kent, camped at South Wall, Deal. His father, Riley, was listed as “Grinder (artiz)”. George’s older brother Sampson was listed as having “No fixed occupation”, and this designation was probably intended to apply to the entries which followed his on the census – namely George, Mary, Marsala (presumably the “Marille” listed in the 1871 census) and Sidney.
He is next found in the 1921 census, at the age of 63 and 4 months, lodging in the house of Mrs Susan Harold Marsden, at Pine Hurst, Smeeth. His occupation was given as Labourer, with the note “Tramps from town to town Labourer”; “No fixed place” is given in the ‘Place of Work’ column. Boarding with him was a 61-year-old “General Dealer”, Gilderoy Scamp, who was, presumably, related in some way (incidentally, this same Gilderoy Scamp had been lodging with Mrs Marsden ten years earlier, when she was living in Cheriton).
George is shown in the 1921 census as being married – and we know from Phoebe Smith that he had a family, including a son named Henry – but, not unusually, no record of his marriage has been found. Likewise I have not positively identified his date of death; although, possibly, he was the George Scamp whose death was recorded at Romford in Essex in the second quarter of 1931.
- I am a Romany, Folktrax FTX100 (1975) ↩︎
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