There are some women in history that I really wish I could meet and Granny Boswell, Gypsy Queen, would be one of them.
Granny Boswell was of course not always a granny, Ann Boswell was born in 1813. She and her husband, Ephraim, locally known as the King of the Gypsies, are said to have come from Tipperary, Ireland.
In 1861 however she gave birth to the first of her six children in a tent on Kirland Road, Bodmin. I know this because Ann and Ephraim had their new daughter, Love Unity Boswell, baptised and the circumstances of the family were recorded in the register. This is quite strange by the way, Ann appears to be in her later 40s when her children are born, not impossible but very unusual.
Ann and Ephraim were gypsies and made their living on the move, Ephraim was at times a labourer or a cane worker and at others a cabinet maker. When family settled in Helston Ann soon became a bit of a celebrity. She was considered the local Wise-Woman and people went to her for advice, curses and charms. (A curative bag of black spiders on your bedpost was just the thing apparently.)
Ann was a diminutive 5’1″ tall, had a wicked tongue and a taste for drink, a story confirmed by the Bodmin Prison Register which has Ann imprisoned on at least 3 occasions for being drunk. (I might add that this took place while she was in her 80s/90s and just for 7 days at a time.)
But there is however one story about her which I just love.
In around 1906 Ann was leaving a pub in Helston one day when a motor-car, perhaps the first she had seen, was coming down the high-street. Ann was fascinated and stepped out into its path to get a closer look. The driver, agitated by the old woman blocking his route, rudely sounded his horn. Ann was furious and brought forth a torrent of abuse, cursing the man and his vehicle, saying they would never make it out of Helston. By all accounts the car only made it to the end of the road before breaking down, eventually it had to be towed away by horses.
Peaky Blinders
In recent years the Boswell family of gypsies have featured in the popular BBC series Peaky Blinders. In the story Madame Bethany Boswell is a wise old gypsy woman living in Wales and Birdie Boswell was said to be Polly Shelby’s mother. After the death of his wife Tommy Shelby consults Madame Boswell about a cursed gem stone.
There is no suggestion of any direct connection with Granny Boswell and Cornwall but the show illustrates that the Boswell’s were at one time one of the largest travelling families in Britain. Though in many ways disconnected from regular society – the Gorgias as the gypsy folk call us – their legacy lives on in popular culture today.
Further Reading
Captain John Piers: Cornish pirate
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What A feisty and formidable old lady!
I know! She certainly was! 🙂
Great story – can’t beat a woman with a pipe! G
I know, awesome lady 🙂
Well, as long as you don’t follow suit… 🙂
Hey what you trying to say?! 😉although now you mention it I have been known to shout at other drivers . . .
Well, once you get the pipe, it’s a small step to getting the wispy beard to match… still, all for shouting at drivers, works for me
Was the women in Peaky Blinders of the same name based on her?
Ooo how interesting!? I have no idea, I haven’t watched it myself, do they seem similar?
Do you the names of all her children?
I have some of those names in my family tree! Love, Unity and such…….. folks from Ireland, gotta love ’em!
Hi,
Granny Boswell is my great granmother, I must of inherited her road rage.
Haha! 🙂 lovely! Do you have any other stories about her? She sounds a wonderful woman!
Sorry she was my great great grandmother on my mother’s side, my nan Eliza Paul (when she was a young girl still living at home, who was one of many) used to be told to go to granny Boswells to give her a helping hand, I remember my nan telling me she never liked going as granny Boswell used to hit my nan around the legs with a stick, for no apparent reason. From what I have been told she certainly was a force to be reckoned with.
He sue granny Boswell is also great great grandmother on my husband’s mum’s side Agnes Boswell is the daughter of granny Boswell and Agnes Boswell married William James Paul
We have heard so many stories about granny Boswell
My great grandfather was Andrew Paul (a descendant of Granny Boswell, but I’m not certain the exact relation). He stowed away on a steamer and came to Canada when he was a teen. He never spoke of his family back in Cornwall, but my mother has been back to visit her cousin (?) Wisdom.
I want to be this woman in every single way shape and form
Granny Boswell was my great great great Granny. I love having her as an ancestor. It’s pretty cool. 😀
My grandmother´s brother married into the Boswell family in Kent. in the early 1920s. I have managed to trace their ancestry back to the early 1700s. The have some original names such as Cinderella and Greenleaf Boswell among many others, They seem to have been all over but especially in Cornwall, Devon, and up North, I am English but on my grandfather´s side they are from India and there seems to be a lot of gypsies in that part of the family too. They ndian gypsys left india over a 1000 years ago and spread throughout Europe. Although that I am not gypsy I do look very gypsy as i am very white with long black hair and green eyes. My gypsy roots are probably from many centuries ago but I had no idea until I did a DNA test and it came up with Romani DNA.