Lenny Harvey is an eighty-three-year-old British author whose work draws heavily on a lifetime of varied and often challenging experiences, including his Romany heritage, extensive travel, and working-class upbringing.
He was born in 1943 in Edmonton, London, into a Romany Gypsy family during the hardships of wartime Britain. His father was serving overseas with the British Army, leaving his mother to raise him under difficult circumstances. Much of his childhood was spent moving between locations, and he did not meet his father until he was in his fifties.
Growing up within Romany communities in North London, Lenny Harvey’s early years involved travelling and undertaking seasonal work such as hop picking, flower selling, and working in the scrap metal trade. These formative experiences would later influence the realism and authenticity of his writing.
At fourteen, with his mother’s help in misrepresenting his age, he secured work as a cabin boy with Everards, a shipping company on the Thames. He worked on several vessels, though each position ended when his true age was discovered. At sixteen, he joined the Merchant Navy training ship Vindicatrix and later returned to sea as both a cabin boy and seaman.
By seventeen, Lenny Harvey had returned to land-based work in the scrap trade. Over the years, he built a diverse career that took him across Britain and abroad. His work ranged from dock labour and scrap dealing to nightclub promotion and security work in London during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He later became involved in property development in both the UK and Tenerife, worked as a firearms instructor, and undertook contract work linked to the Ministry of Defence.
His professional experience in security and international business led to advisory roles in Ukraine and Crimea following the collapse of the Soviet Union. These roles provided him with insight into political instability, conflict, and human behaviour, themes that continue to inform his writing.
Lenny Harvey’s life has included periods of both financial success and significant loss, contributing to the depth and perspective evident in his work. The people he met and the places he visited have inspired many of the characters and settings in his books.
His published works include Romany Gypsies, Forbidden Love, The Devil's Gypsies, and the historical fiction series Outcasts of Empire, set during the Second Boer War and Edwardian Britain. His writing is widely recognised for its authenticity and strong portrayal of Romany and working-class life.
Robert Dawson, President of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society, praised Lenny Harvey’s non-fiction work Romany Gypsies for its realism and accuracy, describing it as “so spot on, so accurate, so as it was,” and later as “a book which tells it as it was. Honestly, warts and all.”
Lenny Harvey’s most recent work, Outcasts of Empire, follows two Romany brothers who leave England to join the Connaught Rangers and become involved in the Second Boer War. The series reflects his long-standing interest in military history and Romany culture.
He lives in England with his wife, Lynne. They have been married for over sixty-two years and have one son, one daughter, and seven grandchildren.Lenny Harvey is an eighty-three-year-old British author whose work draws heavily on a lifetime of varied and often challenging experiences, including his Romany heritage, extensive travel, and working-class upbringing.
He was born in 1943 in Edmonton, London, into a Romany Gypsy family during the hardships of wartime Britain. His father was serving overseas with the British Army, leaving his mother to raise him under difficult circumstances. Much of his childhood was spent moving between locations, and he did not meet his father until he was in his fifties.
Growing up within Romany communities in North London, Lenny Harvey’s early years involved travelling and undertaking seasonal work such as hop picking, flower selling, and working in the scrap metal trade. These formative experiences would later influence the realism and authenticity of his writing.
At fourteen, with his mother’s help in misrepresenting his age, he secured work as a cabin boy with Everards, a shipping company on the Thames. He worked on several vessels, though each position ended when his true age was discovered. At sixteen, he joined the Merchant Navy training ship Vindicatrix and later returned to sea as both a cabin boy and seaman.
By seventeen, Lenny Harvey had returned to land-based work in the scrap trade. Over the years, he built a diverse career that took him across Britain and abroad. His work ranged from dock labour and scrap dealing to nightclub promotion and security work in London during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He later became involved in property development in both the UK and Tenerife, worked as a firearms instructor, and undertook contract work linked to the Ministry of Defence.
His professional experience in security and international business led to advisory roles in Ukraine and Crimea following the collapse of the Soviet Union. These roles provided him with insight into political instability, conflict, and human behaviour, themes that continue to inform his writing.
Lenny Harvey’s life has included periods of both financial success and significant loss, contributing to the depth and perspective evident in his work. The people he met and the places he visited have inspired many of the characters and settings in his books.
His published works include Romany Gypsies, Forbidden Love, The Devil’s Gypsies, and the historical fiction series Outcasts of Empire, set during the Second Boer War and Edwardian Britain. His writing is widely recognised for its authenticity and strong portrayal of Romany and working-class life.
Robert Dawson, President of the Romany and Traveller Family History Society, praised Lenny Harvey’s non-fiction work Romany Gypsies for its realism and accuracy, describing it as “so spot on, so accurate, so as it was,” and later as “a book which tells it as it was. Honestly, warts and all.”
Lenny Harvey’s most recent work, Outcasts of Empire, follows two Romany brothers who leave England to join the Connaught Rangers and become involved in the Second Boer War. The series reflects his long-standing interest in military history and Romany culture.
He lives in England with his wife, Lynne. They have been married for over sixty-two years and have one son, one daughter, and seven grandchildren.
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