The Coggeshall Grave of a Gypsy Princess
There was a family story of a Gypsy Princess and I find there is some truth in it…
IN OCTOBER 1842 a numerous tribe of gypsies pitched their tents in Cut Hedge Road in Coggeshall*. One report claimed that various depredations had been committed in the vicinity and a suspicion was entertained that the gypsies bore responsibility. Another story was that suspicion was raised because of the extent and value of property seen in the Gypsies’ possession. In any event, the police were informed and on Wednesday 28th October 1842, they visited the encampment and the tents were searched. These ‘apartments’ it was discovered, were very comfortably furnished, they were carpeted throughout and had beds and bedding of the best description. Reports differ as to whether anything significant was discovered. The ‘Chelmsford Chronicle’ said that nothing incriminating was found but nevertheless, ‘their removal was still insisted upon.’ The ‘Essex Standard’ has a different account; as the police approached, it claimed, several of the party ‘took to their heels’, and the rest were taken into custody. Among several valuable items, the ‘Standard’ reported, were 10 pairs of blankets of the best quality, with ‘the private shop marks on them’, and a handsome silver teapot. 
THREE CARTS were filled with the gypsies’ possessions and all were taken to the White Hart in Coggeshall where the party were accommodated in the stables.Among the group was a young women of 28 called Cassello Chilcott who, it was reported, had been ill for two years and whose health during these disturbances had been rapidly sinking. In place of her usual bed she was, on that Wednesday night, laid down on straw in the White Hart stables. Medical aid was offered but the head of the party declined it – he said that it was their practice to attend to their own sick and all had been done for her that could be.
CASSELLO DIED on the evening of the next day and as soon as life was extinct much ceremony was observed. The body was dressed in a ‘scotch plaid gown’ with silk stockings and satin shoes. Wax tapers were burnt and the body was laid in state. A Coggeshall undertaker, Mr Clements, was given instructions for the funeral and no expense was spared to render it most respectable in all its appointments. The coffin was of fine oak studded with gilt nails and bore a brass plate on which was engraved ‘Cassello Chilcott Died Sept 29 1842 Aged 28 years’*. Inside the coffin and placed beside the body was the young women’s watch and a purse of money.
NEWS OF THE DEATH spread far and wide among the Gypsy community and it was estimated that between four and five thousand people attended the funeral at Coggeshall church, which was conducted by the assistant curate the Rev W Wigson. The pall was carried by four women, attired in black and deeply veiled and the coffin was followed by thirty of her tribe all dressed in black, the men with black cloth cloaks. The whole party observed the greatest decorum.THE GYPSIES KEPT WATCH over the grave for several weeks to protect it from those who might attempt to recover the valuables sealed inside the coffin. Cassello’s father attributed the death of his daughter to the actions of the police but when an inquest was held at the White Hart before the coroner, William Codd esq., the jury after hearing the circumstances of the case, returned a verdict of ‘Died by the visitation of God’. No charges were ever brought against the gypsy group, their property was restored and they were allowed to go about their way.
CASSELLO'S GRAVESTONE stands in a prominent position beside the path to Coggeshall church and it has been said that such a location might have come at a price -although so far nothing has been found to substantiate this claim. In 1870 the 'Handbook for Essex, Suffolk Norfolk and Cambridgeshire' notes that twenty-eight years after the burial, Cassello's grave was still visited every year by 'one of her tribe'.Memory of
CASSELLO CHILCOTT
Daughter of
RUTH and JOHN CHILCOTT
Who died in this Parish
September 29th 1842
Aged 28 Years
Cassello Chilcott truly was my name,
I never brought my friends to grief or shame,
Yet I have left them to lament, but why
Lament for death? ‘Tis gain in Christ to die
By the 1950's the gravestone was in a poor condition. The vicar at the time, the Rev Norman Brown, wrote; 'Older residents will remember the grave at the intersection of the paths leading to the south porch and the priest's vestry, but for many years the inscription has been indecipherable and the stone after having been broken, was badly repaired with iron straps which caused further deterioration.'
There are no iron straps on the stone now although there are signs of a repairs. I eventually discovered what had happened by searching through archive of the parish magazines held by Coggeshall Museum. In 1962 Miss Lyla Rose of Brookdene, East Street, aware of the significance of the grave, paid to have the stone restored. It was taken to the stonemasons, Messrs Watts of Colchester where the iron strapwork was removed, the two parts bonded together and the inscription recut. When re-erected in early 1963 the headstone had been returned to its original 1842 appearance. The Rev Brown, hinted that the cost of all this was not trivial and there is little doubt that without Miss Rose's generous intervention the stone would have been lost. It was something of a surprise to discover this as Miss Rose was a family friend and I have found a photo of her from the 1950s (which includes the author not looking at the camera). Miss Rose died in 1968.
Sixty years on another benefactor is needed as most of the lower half of the lichen-covered stone is impossible to read.
George Borrow that often unreliable Victorian traveller, observer of nature and commentator of the Romany life suggests that there were two significant gypsy graves in Coggeshall of which Cassello Chilcott’s is the only certainty. In Chapter VII of his ‘Romany Rye’, Jasper Petulengro records that his wife’s grandmother ‘died at the age of 103 and sleeps in Coggeshall churchyard’. Other research suggests that this may be Devit (or Bonny) Heron who may have died about 1850 but there is no parish record of this. The existence of a third gypsy grave is even more tentative. T W Thompson claimed that Mirelli Draper the wife of Jasper Petulengro’s paternal uncle (otherwise described as a ‘clever and masterful woman’), ‘was probably buried in Coggeshall’. Again there is no parish record of this.
* Now called Cuthedge Lane it runs between Coggeshall Hamlet, Scrips Farm and Bradwell.
* In the Parish Register the name is recorded as Celia and both newspapers use Cecilia but there is no doubt Cassello is the true name and this is confirmed by the gravestone epitaph.
Geoffrey Smith the e-mail address you gave does not work. You could try again..
Sources
Essex County Standard, 07/10/1842
Chelmsford Chronicle, 07/10/1842
Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, series 3, v47-48, 1968-69 pp 49-54
The Link Parish Magazine of St Peter Ad Vincula Coggeshall, April 1963, p48
Trevor Disley updated 2021
Comments
By Peter Biggs: I looked into this story about 35 years ago, wondering how a Romany family (Chilcott/Lee) was allowed, let alone to be given, a most favourable plot in the churchyard. Maybe the Parish accounts for 1842 could isolate a substantial donation.
Within the article hot-linked is the name of Jaspar Petulengo. As part of the Festival of Britain celebrations in 1951, the village in which I was born held a Gypsy wedding, officiated by 'Gypsy Petulengo.' He lived in several places, one of which was in a wood opposite my great grandparents house in Kinsbourne Green, Herts. My mother remembers being taken to see him there, officiating at other weddings where the union of bride and groom involved wrists being cut and blood being exchanged. By Roddy Miller: If my recall is accurate I think that this gravestone may well a replacement! As a choirboy I passed the stone regularly Did not two elderly spinsters who lived near the Tory Club and the Dearmans in Church St subscribe to have it replaced in the early mid 60's? By Ronnie richards: It would be wonderful if the grave stone was cleaned up,so that once again one could read the lovely words,when walking past.
I used to be able even two years ago to read this,but no longer..