Adam Ant
photo by Prphotos
Birth Name: Stuart Leslie Goddard
Place of Birth: Marylebone, London, England, U.K.
Date of Birth: 3 November, 1954
Ethnicity: English, as well as 1/16th Scottish, possibly some Romani
Adam Ant is an English singer, musician, and actor.
He is the son of Betty Kathleen, an embroiderer, and Alfred Leslie Goddard, a chauffeur, who served in the Royal Air Force. He has a daughter with his former wife, PR assistant Lorraine Gibson.
Adam’s paternal grandfather was Thomas Albert Alfred Goddard (the son of Charles Henry Goddard and Catherine Elizabeth Hill). Charles was the son of Charles George Goddard and Louisa Fisher. Catherine was the daughter of Thomas Hill and Mary Ann Cooper.
Adam’s paternal grandmother was Caroline Florence Louise Hutchens (the daughter of Frederick Charles Hutchens and Annie Mary MacLean). Frederick was the son of William John Hutchens and Caroline Herbert. Annie was the daughter of John Roderick Maclean, who was Scottish, and of Mary Annie Lake.
Adam’s maternal grandfather was Walter Albany Smith (the son of Joseph Charles Smith and Thirza West). Walter was said to have been Romanichal. Joseph was the son of Charles Henry Smith, from Church Icomb, Gloucestershire, and of Clara Jane Such/Surch, from Little Compton, Warwickshire. Thirza was the daughter of Urbane West and Susannah Savins.
Adam’s maternal grandmother was Lily Ada Jopson (the daughter of George Jopson and Ada Spokes). George was the son of William Jopson and Mary Ann Moore. Adam’s great-grandmother Ada was the daughter of Richard William Spokes and Sarah Ann Emberson.
In his book, Stand and Deliver: The Autobiography, 2006, Adam wrote of his maternal grandparents:
Lily Ada had married by far the most important man in my life as I grew up, my maternal grandfather. Born a Romany gypsy, Walter Albany Smith came into this world in a caravan in Oxford in 1898, and his life reads like a romantic lead in a D. H. Lawrence novel. It’s impossible to trace his family tree before this time as, in true gypsy tradition, the less contact with officialdom or society in general that his people had, they considered, the better. It is believed they were of Rumanian heritage. Judging by the thickset Slavic head and jawline that the whole family inherited, I think this is quite possible.
It appears at least most of the ancestry of Adam’s maternal grandfather was not Romani. It is not clear if Adam has any verified/documented Romani ancestry.
Sources: Marriage record of Adam’s parents – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Adam’s paternal grandparents, Thomas Albert Alfred Goddard and Caroline Florence Louise Hutchens – https://familysearch.org
Marriage record of Adam’s maternal grandparents, Walter Albany Smith and Lily Ada Jopson – https://familysearch.org
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/clara-jane-surch-24-31hgy
According to this Clara Jane Surch was born in Little Compton, Warwickshire, the daughter of Joseph Surch and Jane Leatherland. Her second husband, Charles Henry Smith was born in Church Icomb, Gloucestershire.
This man went under the pseudonym Walter Smith:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Petulengro
Maybe there’s a connection?
Is there any evidence that Walter Albany Smith had Romani ancestry?
Adam wrote it in his book Stand and Deliver: My Autobiography.
“Lily Ada had married by far the most important man in my life as I grew up, my maternal grandfather. Born a Romany gypsy, Walter Albany Smith came into this world in a caravan in Oxford in 1898, and his life reads like a romantic lead in a D. H. Lawrence novel. It’s impossible to trace his family tree before this time as, in true gypsy tradition, the less contact with officialdom or society in general that his people had, they considered, the better. It is believed they were of Rumanian heritage. Judging by the thickset Slavic head and jawline that the whole family inherited, I think this is quite possible.”
As for the spelling of Romani and Romanian, as well as the fact that Romanians are not Slavic, this is how it is written in the book.
it’s probably just a bunch of hogwash. someone in his family or maybe even himself trying to make themselves more interesting. Romani people are of Indian descent and look it. They don’t look either ”Slavic” (which is bullshit too, since we don’t all look alike, we inhabit half of the bloody continent) nor Romanian.
Don’t call me an idiot. I’ve seen thousands of Romany people and yes, most of them look Indian. They’re not that mixed. They look like people from north India.
https://images.wired.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1421144026_medium_140709-181339_to090714cro_0528.jpg
http://68.media.tumblr.com/dce4890f9b1cad9422598b3ac5bc2cfb/tumblr_nq5gopZer11u5lkbdo1_1280.jpg
How can these people look like Italians or Spaniards??
A group of gypsies with the Governor of Tuscany Enrico Rossi (the tall man): http://perleadriatiche.altervista.org/desktop/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/zingari3.jpg
They look like Italian people indeed.
So by being from Europe you think you know all things European?
Aren’t you in Germany? Didn’t they gas most of their Sinti population? That means most of the Romany people you meet are likely from Eastern Europe, and I’m from Eastern Europe and can see the difference in how they look compared to the general population.
@andrew
I wish such blatanly racist comments would get deleted.