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During the late medieval and Tudor period, nomadic Gypsies began arriving in England. Over the centuries they had migrated from northern India through Central Europe.

Gypsies suffered extreme persecution. They moved from place to place at a time when most people still lived all their lives in the same village. Their nomadic lifestyle meant that they existed outside the control of the authorities, and they were seen as a threat. They faced a lot of prejudice and in the 16th century there were several attempts to expel them from the country:

• In 1530 King Henry VIII ordered that all Gypsies should be expelled from England.
• In 1554 Queen Mary I made it a crime to be an immigrant Romanichal Gypsy, punishable by death.
• In 1577 six people were hanged in Aylesbury for mixing with Gypsies.
• In 1592 five Gypsies were hanged in Durham.
• In 1596 nine women and men in York were executed for being Gypsies.
• In the 1650s forced transportation began of Gypsies into slavery in North America and the Caribbean.