Romany’s real name was the Reverend George Bramwell Evens, a Minister of the Methodist Church. He was born in 1884 and died in 1943. His mother was a true gypsy, born in a caravan (or ‘vardo’ in Romani).
For many years he wrote about wildlife and the countryside in a number of newspapers. He sometimes called himself ‘The Tramp’ in these articles.
He is most famous, though, for his 1930’s and 40’s broadcasts on BBC Children’s Hour in his ‘Out With Romany’ programmes. His young friends Muriel and Doris and his animals Raq the dog and Comma the horse accompanied him on his weekly outings often centred on his vardo.
Romany was our first natural history broadcaster, the forerunner of and inspiration for David Attenborough and David Bellamy
He also wrote many books. The best-known of these are the ‘Out with Romany’ series, much reprinted throughout the 1930s, 40s and 50s.