Jack Loveland

Jack Loveland

Jack Loveland arrived at Bartley in the New Forest when he was ten years old and attended school at Netley Marsh and Totton. In 1934, aged 14, he moved to Wimborne, Dorset and soon afterwards took up cycling seriously, racing and touring with a local club and making many return visits to the New Forest.

During this time, Jack developed a keen interest in photography and in about 1966 Jack became a founder member of the Wimborne Camera Club. As a photographer, Jack's preference was for people rather than landscapes, and it was the combination of an exhilarating cycle ride, his love of the New Forest, and a quest for new subjects that resulted in the remarkable collection of photographs of Gypsy families.

Back in the 1960s, Jack was probably unaware of the importance of what he was about to embark upon when he arrived on his bike in the New Forest, perhaps had no idea that he was preserving on film a snapshot of a disappearing world. Soon afterwards the Gypsies were finally forced out of the forest compounds and into brick.

The collection of photographs and negatives have been deposited at the New Forest Museum, Lyndhurst and Mr Loveland retains copyright during his lifetime. Many thanks to Mr Loveland for allowing us permission to use this unique collection as part of The Living Album project.

Adapted from an article, which first appeared in Romany Routes Vol 6 No 7, June 2004, by Janet Keet-Black of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society