Durrant's Press Cuttings

Description

A selection of press cuttings from (UK) national and regional press/publications of articles where reference is made to Gypsies, Traveller or Roma. As provided to the University via Durrants's Press Cutting Agency. References the UK, Ireland and Europe.


Most are provided on paper mounts that detail various information about the cuttings including search terms, date, source (ie. the publication) and location of the publication.


Later press cuttings also contain additional information such as the circulation numbers ["ABC" Audit Bureau of Circulations] and advertising rates ["BRAD (British rate and data) rates for pages and SCC (single column centimetre adverstising rate].


Topics include but are not limited to; sites, evictions, traditions, culture "people," horses, wagons, health, education, crime, discrimination.


Most are grouped/enclosed in envelopes (some original which show date of receipt and number of cuttings within).

Biography or history

The Romany Account book shows that in late December 1971 the University began to purchase a subscription from Durrant Press Cuttings Agency (Herbal Hill London EC1R 5EL) for articles that referenced Gypsy, Travellers and Roma communities. [Accompanying mounts and invoices show the search terms at the time to be variations of the commonplace terminology used then, "Gypsies/Tinkers."] The decision to collect press cuttings was possibly a continuation of the practice that Dorothy Una Ratcliffe had established with her press cuttings scrapbooks [see related objects] and was funded by the endowment that she had left for further development of her original Romany Collection. [A later report suggested that it was deemed a useful way of spending the Collection's income which was otherwise difficult to spend on books, periodicals and other relevant material]. Over the years the cuttings appear to have been sent with varying regularity (daily, weekly and bi-monthly - depending possibly on the
volume and Durrants changing service offering). [The volume of cuttings seems to have decreased from 1977 onwards and it is not clear if this was as a result of less references in the press or whether there was a change in the scope of what was collected/paid for.] This subscription continued until 1999, when following a report on the rising costs of the cutting service extending beyond the Collections budget, it was recommended that the subscription ended.

System of arrangement

It would appear at the start of the subscription there was an intention to catagorise these cuttings according to location (by the county that was referenced) but this only seems to have occurred for 1st six months. [It is possible that the volume of cuttings and subsequent effort in doing this had been perhaps been understimated. The remaining cuttings appear to have been filed chronologically although there does appear for some years to have been an effort to categorise these by subject but again this approach wasn't sustained. [This was possibly attempted retrospectively at a later stage].

Access and usage

Reproduction

Access

This collection is subject to various access conditions. Please see individual catalogue descriptions for further details on access.

The catalogue titles or descriptions in this collection may contain terminology and phrases that would now be considered unacceptable. Where present these original terms continue to be included to preserve historical accuracy and provide social and historical context.

Notes on terminology and spellings

 

Please note that there may be differences in the terms used to describe the particular communities represented in this collection, many of which have changed over time and may continue to change.

 

At the time this catalogue was created there are many definitions that identify different cultural and ethnic groups with their varied histories, traditions and associations with a travelling life.

 

These can include but are not limited to  those that have been recognised in UK law as ethnic groups; English and Welsh (Romany) Gypsies, Irish and Scottish Travellers; and non-ethnic groups that consider themselves distinct even if these have not been recognised in UK law, e.g. New Travellers, Showmen and Bargees. Outside of the UK 'Gypsy' may also be considered offensive  and ‘Roma’ is often used instead as the universally preferred term although this term also represents a wide range of distinct groups, (e.g. Sinti, Manouche).

 

It is our intention to respectfully and (where possible) accurately refer to these different communities in the catalogue. For this reason we ask you to note the following with regards to the descriptions in this catalogue that have been based on these current definitions:

 

1)  As many of these definitions have only come into being since the collection was created/1st catalogued, please be aware that original descriptions may not accurately reflect the group to which it refers, (e.g. the word 'Gypsy,' may have been used to describe those now recognised as Irish Travellers/Roma).  Therefore it is worth searching under various terms, e.g. 'Romany' and 'Traveller,' to broaden the scope of search results as well as using the alternative historical spellings, 'Gipsy,' 'Gipsie,' or ‘Romani.’

2) Where no original description exists and it is not possible to properly identify a distinct group they will be described as "Gypsy Traveller" (within UK setting), "Roma" for those living/recently originating outside the UK or "Gypsy, Traveller, Roma " for origin/locations unknown. References to any non - ethnic groups will similarly be capitalised to respectfully acknowledge all groups.

Users are advised that the content in this collection may include accounts of discrimination and the expression of opinions and/or terminology that would now be considered unacceptable.

This material is in copyright. Photocopies or digital images can be supplied by the Library for research or private study. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain the copyright holder's permission to reproduce for any other purpose. Guidance is available on tracing copyright status and ownership.

Physical and technical conditions

Many of the cuttings are bundled in the original envelopes in which they were received. They can be quite brittle so care is needed when handling.

Related records in our catalogue