Outsiders in Our Midst: Travellers in Modern Britain

"Gypsy Travellers" have been relatively neglected by historians, a position which reflects their status in British society as a whole. Where they have been considered, it is often within the rather narrow world of "Romani studies" rather than as part of wider society. But what happens if we as historians take them out of this ghetto and consider them as internal migrants rather than as "the stranger on the windy heath"? Using evidence from the past two hundred years I consider how Britain has dealt with persistent migrants within its borders. In doing so I explore how Travellers’ continued marginalisation reveals more about the expansion of the state and preoccupations of mainstream society than it does about Travellers themselves.