Scope and Contents

"This woman is described as mental and a bit soft. "She doesn't keep well in hot weather". She has a tongue like a tinker. She is feckless and useless, would talk the hind legs off a donkey. Always complaining. Dr confirms that this woman is a dirty and hypochondrial old pest with an awful tongue. Nurse confirms that this woman is queer; sometimes very clean however."

Relatives in survey: Brother 34.3

Scope and Contents "IQ 78, not too bad - [female informant] says she has turned out very well. Had a baby at 17, just at home now. Mother, 50+, a splendid worker in other people's houses, never kept her own very clean. Gipsy stock, grand baker. Father a farm worker. Now in prefabs. A bit mental?"Siblings: [Sister] IQ68, married. Eldest died of TB. [Brother] in navy, did well. [Brother] farm worker.Poor house, dirty no conviences, not overcrowded now. Only a room and a kitchen...

Scope and Contents

"A bad type, immoral, simple and nervy, highly strung, always has a grievance. Inspector says she is a bad tinker, originally came as a housekeeper, much younger than her husband. Dr confirms - a slut, handless."

Relatives in survey: Daughter 36.38

Scope and Contents

"This man is abnormal, looks like a gipsy, has big staring eyes and does not look intelligent. A bit queer. [Male informant] agrees that he is not intelligent. A ploughman."

Children: 4.31, 4.32, 4.29. 4.30; wife 4.28

Scope and Contents

"Simple and immoral, attractive but had no brains. Much younger than her husband. One child a piccaninny."

Husband: 6.21, son: 6.22

Scope and Contents

"This old lady lives alone in a tin shed. An old tinker. Shoplifts."

Scope and Contents

"On Dr's list of defectives. Now goes with the scavenger cart. Simple to talk to but can work, single, well liked. Once fell in love with the District Nurse - attended all the dances just to gaze at her. Father killed in an accident. Mother 60+, real tinker type. Siblings are all brown and unwashed looking. [Male informant] simple minded, lives with his mother, no PA. Condemned house, 2 rooms."

Scope and Contents

"Looks funny, has a wee bit of a want. Her people were tinkers and basket makers, clever with their hands. She is rough looking and queer, lives alone. Hoes turnips, etc., a very hard worker, but peculiar. Dr confirms - she is a real tinker type, looks almost Chinese. Clean house. PAO confirms that she is very queer."

Sibling: 18.71

Scope and Contents

"Admitted to CRI - Mental Defect, if not congenital, from an early age. Has had meningitis? No occupation, single. Had infantile paralysis as a child. Father of gipsy stock, died. Mother dead. Dr says they are all bad and queer, of a low mentality."

Siblings: 18.21

Scope and Contents "This girl is described by the teacher as definitely simple. She steals and thieves, has a funny eye and is very dirty. Goes about with a sack over her shoulders. She thinks she can sing. Her parents are tinkers and go about in a caravan all summer, living in a cottage in the winter. Father a horse dealer and dealer in old clothes. Mother, aged about 40, brazen type, looks like a Gypsy. Deals in old clothes, always having babies, personally dirty. The family are at present living in a...