A Gypsy Grave and the Epsom Derby

A GYPSY GRAVE AND THE EPSOM DERBY 
By Liesl King 
It is that time of the year again, when I happily pack my bags and head for Newmarket, a town that truly lives for racing. From the High Street to the nooks and crannies, horses rule, and in the birthplace of racing, there is a tale around every corner. On the outskirts of town, on the corner of a crossroad–if you are not speeding past at 70 miles an hour–you will find a very small grave surrounded by simple green wire hoops. These days a cross bearing the inscription, Joseph, the unknown Gypsy Boy, adorns the small grave, together with a collection of flowers and two small teddies. 
Legend has it that it is the grave of a young gypsy boy, who while tending his family’s flock of sheep happened to doze off. Upon awakening, he miscounted and thought he had lost a sheep. So great was his despair, that he hanged himself from a nearby tree and was buried at this spot. Sadly, the sheep were all accounted for and he had simply miscounted. 
For years, gypsies tended the grave and even to this day flowers and even coins regularly appear on the little grave. Passing cyclists have claimed they are compelled to dismount, and legend has it that the colors of the flowers before a big racing day, such as last weekend’s Derby, are those of the winning horse. And indeed, there on the simple small grave were some white, purple and blue flowers. Admittedly blue is not in Australia’s silks, but white and purple most certainly are. 
Through the ages, the Gypsies have played a role in the Sport of Kings, and none more so than at Epsom. In 1770, Edward Smith Stanley, the 12th Earl of Derby, organized the Oaks and a year later the colts’ equivalent, the Derby, was added, the name famously decided by the flip of a coin between the Earl of Derby and Sir Charles Banbury. The Earl of Derby may have won the toss, but Sir Charles Banbury’s Diomed won the inaugural race. 
Gypsies and the Derby’s histories are firmly intertwined, as the Derby became the meeting place for many Gypsy families. Records show that by 1891 there were about 40 Gypsy families living on the Epsom Downs. Yet it was during the Victorian era that they became an integral part of the Derby celebrations. There to watch the racing and entertain the crowds were fortune-tellers, dancers, flower sellers, fiddlers, acrobats and even stilt walkers. 
As always, there was a mixed reaction from the racegoers to the Gypsy presence. Some campaigned for their right to attend, while others simply called them troublemakers. It wasn’t long before there was an attempt to remove all the Gypsies from the Epsom Downs in the early 1930’s. Now, here is where the story takes an interesting twist, for straight from the script of Downton Abbey, steps Lady Sybil Grant, daughter of the fifth Earl of Roseberry, Prime Minister during Queen Victoria’s reign. Lady Sybil was certainly a colorful and unusual character, as historical records tell us that she liked caravanning and even held a hawker’s license, enabling her to sell trinkets from door-to-door in aid of charity. In Lady Sybil, the Epsom Downs Gypsies found their champion. She simply bypassed the attempt to remove the Gypsy families by giving them the right to camp on her land, saying they had done so for hundreds of years and it was their rightful heritage. 
Today, the field is managed by the Epsom Downs Conservators. Large chrome covered trailers may have replaced the colorful wooden horse drawn caravans, but Gypsy families still gather on Derby Day, on the field next to the famous racecourse, as they have done for over 200 years. So if you happen to visit Newmarket in the week leading up to the Derby, take a leisurely drive slightly out of town and visit little Joseph’s grave. You never know, you might just find the Derby winner’s colors there.