A snapshot of Romany Gypsy life in Woking

Written and visual sources for the lived experience of Romany Gypsies in the county are rare so a collection of copy photographs of the Baker family of Sunridge/Sundridge Camp, Old Woking, and a memoir written by Rose Baker (later Burch) recalling her family’s life there, make for an extraordinary testimony (reference 10066/1/9). Rose (born 1918) was a twin and one of 13 children of James and Clara Baker. Gems in the collection include a handwritten list of where she and her siblings were born, including in tents, in a meadow by Old Woking cemetery and in ‘the little field by the river near the park which is now overgrown’ (10066/1/6).Nellie Violet & Rose Baker Jackmans Nursery

The Bakers and other families in the camp worked for Mr Carter at his farm in Kingfield. The work was arduous, and Gypsies provided cheap labour as they were generally not well paid. From the age of 14, Rose worked at Cartbridge Laundry, then at Jackman and Son’s Nursery in Egley Road, where some of her sisters were already employed. Annually in September, the family would travel to Hampshire for the hop-picking season. New building byelaws and public health concerns meant that by 1931 Woking Urban District Council compulsorily purchased the privately owned land which the encampment stood on and a year later evicted its nine resident families. The Bakers moved into settled accommodation in Westfield. Rose’s son Geoff used her memoir to research his Romany roots and, in the process, collated a whole collection revealing a fascinating insight into their lifestyle. The collection will be a huge help to enquirers tracing their own Gypsy ancestry.

A game of cat and mouse?

This intriguing drawing was discovered among records of Greenfield School, Woking, recently deposited before the school’s merger with Hoe Bridge School (10768/1/2/2). The pencil sketch, depicting a cat teacher with a classroom of mice pupils, is captioned, ‘But when her Highness is near, Dear Cat you need have no fear’.

Who is the Cat examining the maths paper in her hand, and who is ‘her Highness’? Helpfully, though, all the mice are all individually named, including K Green (creator of the artwork) and K Barbier (whose name appears on the maths paper).

The mystery is further deepened by a cryptic poem that accompanies the drawing:
Cat poem

Now look amidst the senior mice,
Serene and calm Her Royal Highness stands,
How could you Cat, suggest these mice
Would game and play in little bands.
Never, never could the Girls’ School mice
Be other than polite and nice
When such a Highness took command
And ruled with love that lively band
Dear Cat, in all humility we you advise
To show our portrait (we’re sure that’s wise)
To that same Royal Highness who here stands
And say you’re sorry – we feel she’ll understand.

We think the drawing dates from the early 1940s, as some of the names have been traced on the 1939 Register as born around 1926 to 1927, and were most likely senior pupils, as the poem suggests. This was before the school was purchased by Ockenden Venture founders, Joyce Pearce and Ruth Hicks (in 1948), so we are no closer to identifying ‘Cat’ and ‘Her Royal Highness’. If you can help us solve this enigma, we would love to hear from you!

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