The 1937 Wedding of Uncle Leon & Eileana
Cutting from the Bradford Telegraph & Argus 1937
Cutting from the Bradford Telegraph & Argus 1937
BAILDON, West Yorkshire
The newspaper cuttings here are from August 1937 when during the annual Gypsy Carnival a real Romany wedding took place. The happy couple were my uncle Leon and his bride Eileana and the church ceremony was conducted by the Vicar of Baildon and afterwards the Romany rites were performed by my Grandfather Xavier Petulengro with the traditional cutting of wrists and mingling the blood, the binding of the couples wrists with a silken cord, the leaping over the flaming camp fire and terminating with the then married couple riding into the sunset on a black stallion. The wedding was covered by several newspapers of the day and the ‘Pathé News’ filmed it and was shown in Cinemas throughout the country. Thus making him the most famous Gypsy of the time.
First edition cover from 1934
Grandfather with members of the family including my Father
Double Romany Wedding on Baildon Moor 1938
Petulengro’s Grave in the Forest of Dean
Photo By Jennifer Davies
Photo By Jennifer Davies
Grandfather’s Grave
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