Dark family secrets of bnp leader nick griffin

[Beorn]

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE OF EVERY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD!!!11

DARK FAMILY SECRETS OF BNP LEADER NICK GRIFFIN

BNP leader Nick Griffin, who last week branded gypsies “anti social and criminal”, can trace his roots to travellers hawking cheap goods from a horse and cart.

The controversial MEP’s great-grandfather George Griffin roamed from town to town in a horse-drawn caravan with his wife Esther and their children, selling china and crockery.

Census reports show he spent years living the gypsy life, never settling in one place because as an impoverished traveller he was on the margins of society and never fully accepted anywhere.

Last week Griffin, 50, who condemned attacks on Romanian gypsies in Northern Ireland, said: “We have to bear in mind that the gypsy community is notorious for its extremely high rate of criminality and antisocial behaviour.

“Everyone in Romania and eastern Europe knows this and it is one reason why their governments are so keen to encourage them to come over here.”

Yet between 1868 and 1874 records show his great-grandfather represented just such a minority. He travelled in one caravan with his family while his business partner, Mary Ann Hollis, travelled in another.

George habitually lied about his age, describing himself as 25 in the 1871 Census, 41 a decade later, 47 in the 1891 Census and 58 in 1901. He plied his precarious trade in Devon and Cornwall and could often be found parked outside the London Inn pub in Liskeard.

The 1871 Census shows the caravans were parked next to the Cornish pub, noting: “Six persons not in houses”. In the column marked “Houses” it reports them as living in vans.

While George lived with Esther, 22, and his 10-month-old son George Junior in one, Mary Ann Hollis, 37, was in the second with George’s three-year-old daughter Mary Ann Griffin and a William Huxham, 16.

He is described as a servant but probably earned his keep selling wares. In the Census column marked “Rank, profession or occupation” George is a “licensed hawker dealing in china and crockery ware”.

His lifestyle would not have fitted with the intolerant views of Mr Griffin and the British National Party which does not accept black people as members.

"Griffin has called for an immediate halt to immigration, and voluntary resettlement of immigrants legally living in Britain.

When told this week of Mr Griffin’s heritage, shocked BNP deputy leader Simon Darby said: “That will please him.” Genealogy expert Nick Barratt added: “George Griffin travelled around, scratching a living. His group will have roamed from street to street like ragtag travellers trying to survive on their wits and selling their wares.

“And it is highly likely he spent many more years living the life of a traveller before he married.

“Today we would call his group travellers and just like today they would have been marginalised on the edge of society and seen as outsiders.

“They will have been treated with a degree of suspicion and as a minority.”

So let me get this straight. Nick Griffin condemns the attacks on Roma Gypsies, but has British traveller/gypsy history himself?

Does anyone else see any news worthy of wasting ink over?

[Æmeric]

Is Griffin of ethnic Gypsy descent or was it just that his ancestors were travelers? There is a difference. We have carnies in America but they are not considered an ethnic group anymore then plumbers or electricians.

[Loki]

Is Griffin of ethnic Gypsy descent or was it just that his ancestors were travelers? There is a difference. We have carnies in America but they are not considered an ethnic group anymore then plumbers or electricians.

By the sounds of it, they were English travellers -- there are plenty of them. No indication whatsoever of Roma descent. I'd say only a minority of "gypsies" in England are actually Roma.

[Beorn]

Is Griffin of ethnic Gypsy descent or was it just that his ancestors were travelers?

I can't say anything more as Loki nailed it, but this is the big misunderstanding some people living over the Channel don't seem to comprehend: the Gypsies of mainland Europe are not the same as the Gypsies of Britain and Ireland.

I'd say only a minority of "gypsies" in England are actually Roma.

I can't recall where I read it now, but the numbers have grown alarmingly in the recent five years.

[Treffie]

Even if he is of old Gypsy extraction, there's one hell of a difference. The Gypsies that came to Britain in the 16th century were traditionalists and dare I say it, were considered honourable here.

[Cato]

This is the kind of hatchetjob you'd expect from the leftist media, which always seems to focus on ad hominems. It also seems a bit desperate to me as well, as if people won't know the difference between Griffin's English ancestors and, well, gypsies.

[Fortis in Arduis]

Thanks for posting that. Quite an interesting article, and of course, any publicity is good publicity.

[Barreldriver]

Did it say anywhere in there that his ancestor was a gypsie? It just said he was a traveling china and crockery salesman, and just happened to not belong to a household. So.... I guess anyone who is homeless and sells stuff is automatically gypsie now?

[Beorn]

So.... I guess anyone who is homeless and sells stuff is automatically gypsie now?

Gypsy

• itinerant: a labourer who moves from place to place as demanded by employment; "itinerant traders"
• a member of a people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and who traditionally live by seasonal work and fortune telling; they are believed to have originated in northern India but now are living on all continents (but mostly in Europe, North Africa, and North America)

The first definition is what we in Britain would call a Gypsy; a Tinker; a Pikey; a Traveller.

The second definition would come under Romanian Gypsy, or Roma Gypsy, and would have a considerably different look to that of a native Gypsy.

[Loyalist]

The article is a pathetic hatchet job, and highly dishonest, in that it provides no evidence of any Roma ancestry in Griffin's lineage, and fails to clarify that living a nomadic life, whether or not as a peddler or salesman, does not make one a Gypsy.

George habitually lied about his age, describing himself as 25 in the 1871 Census, 41 a decade later, 47 in the 1891 Census and 58 in 1901. He plied his precarious trade in Devon and Cornwall and could often be found parked outside the London Inn pub in Liskeard.

More dishonesty; inconsistencies in reported ages on various census records do not mean the individual was lying. Errors by the census taker, mistranscribed records, and other factors are the more likely explanation for such issues. I have a number of ancestors whose ages were reported incorrectly on various census records, often by several years, and I believe that is more likely the result of clerical errors than intentional deceitfulness. By asserting that Griffin's ancestor lied about his age, the article is implying him to be of questionable character, which is simply slander aimed at sliming his descendant.

He is described as a servant but probably earned his keep selling wares.

Probably? What expert journalism.

In the Census column marked “Rank, profession or occupation” George is a “licensed hawker dealing in china and crockery ware”.

The point being...?

His lifestyle would not have fitted with the intolerant views of Mr Griffin and the British National Party which does not accept black people as members.

There is nothing in the BNP membership rules which prohibit a travelling salesman from joining. The ban on non-whites is also irrelevant to the issue of a "lifestyle" which the article alleges is incompatible with BNP membership.