author
Francis Hindes Groome
1851–1902
A lively Victorian writer and scholar, he became one of the best-known English-language writers on Romani life, language, folklore, and history. His work also ranged widely, including major reference books on Scotland and editions of traditional tales and songs.
2 Audiobooks
Gypsy folk-tales
by Francis Hindes Groome
Two Suffolk Friends
by Francis Hindes Groome
About the author
Born in Suffolk on August 30, 1851, Francis Hindes Groome was the son of Robert Hindes Groome, Archdeacon of Suffolk. He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, though he did not take a degree, and he later spent time living among Romani communities in Britain and abroad. That experience shaped the work for which he is most remembered.
Groome wrote extensively on Romani people and culture, publishing books such as In Gipsy Tents and Gypsy Folk-Tales. He was widely regarded in his own time as an important commentator on Romani language, customs, beliefs, and folklore. He also built a strong reputation as an editor and reference writer, including work on Chambers's Encyclopaedia and the substantial Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland.
He died in London on January 24, 1902. Today he is remembered as a prolific late-19th-century man of letters whose writing tried to record communities, stories, and local knowledge that many of his contemporaries overlooked.