The Museum of East Dorset is inviting visitors to discover an often-overlooked part of the county’s past through a major new exhibition exploring the lives of Gypsy and Traveller communities.
Image: Dorset History Centre
Running from 18th July until 23rd January 2027, Home: Gypsy and Traveller Lives in Dorset has been created in partnership with Dorset History Centre and Dorset charity Kushti Bok. Drawing on historic archives, personal memories and family collections, it tells the stories of communities whose connections with Dorset stretch back generations.
Image: Dorset History Centre
Among the highlights are rarely seen photographs from Dorset History Centre, including one of the famous Bournemouth Flower Girls. One of the young flower sellers pictured is Betsy Smith, who began selling large white daisies in Bournemouth Square aged just eight in 1898 before being joined by her sisters. The photograph was donated to Dorset History Centre by Betsy’s granddaughter, Betty Smith-Billington, chair of Kushti Bok.
Another striking image captures a Traveller family gathered around a campfire near Shillingstone in the 1910s (above), while the exhibition also features traditional vardo models, personal objects, oral histories and even soil collected from former stopping places across Dorset.
Drawing on church, military, school and medical records alongside photographs and local newspaper archives, the exhibition reveals how Gypsy and Traveller families have long been part of Dorset’s story, while exploring how ideas of home have evolved as many traditional stopping places disappeared during the twentieth century.
Museum curator Millie Lake said the exhibition invites visitors to see Dorset’s history ‘through stories that have often been overlooked’, recognising Gypsy and Traveller communities as an important part of the county’s cultural heritage.
museumofeastdorset.co.uk
The Dorset Life Community News section is sponsored by Wessex Internet
