john bankes 1650 – 1719

John Bankes (abt 1650 – 1719)

Who? What? When? Where?

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who?Birth

Evidence :

10 March 1673 – Freedom Record Haberdashers’ Company –indicates over 21

09 May 1715 – Marriage Licence Allegation re second marriage states Aged 60

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who?Birth

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who? First Marriage

• Wife Elizabeth Atherton

• Marriage date not known

• Evidence:

• Will of John Bankes names deceased wife and other members of her family. Also refers to 8 children

• Poll tax assessment for Castle Baynard ward 1692 lists a wife of John Bankes

• Elizabeth Atherton believed born abt 1640 – Jane Stacey researched in Parish Registers Marsh Baldon, Oxon

• Elizabeth Atherton died pre 1715 (second marriage)

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who? Second Marriage

• Wife Elizabeth Trevers

• Previous married name Elizabeth Russell

• She had several children, among whom Elizabeth Russell, m Robert Mitchell, Skinner on 10 Nov 1715 at Holy Trinity Chapel, Knightsbridge – Bankes’ nephew

• Not known when Russell died

• Maiden name unknown

• Marriage Licence Allegation 9 May 1715

• Marriage 12 May 1715 at Holy Trinity Chapel, Knightsbridge

• Elizabeth Russell / Trevers / Bankes died 24th May 1733

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who? Second Marriage

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – Who? Death

• Date of death evidenced by Court of Chancery documents 23 March 1719

• Will proved in PCC on 26 April 1720

• Will stipulated burial in Bishop of Winchester’s burial ground, Southwark – near New Park Street Chapel. Known as Deadman’s Place. No records survive

• Barclay’s Brewery later built on burial ground site

• Executors of Will named as John Cartlitch, Goldsmith, and John Hales of the Inner Temple, London

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – What?Occupation

• Was he a Haberdasher?

• Citizen & Haberdasher

• Served Haberdashers’ Company most of his adult life

• Was he a Mercer?

• 1986 – Haberdashers’ Company archivist said so

• Was he a merchant?

• 1715 Marriage Licence Allegation says so


• City of London Freedom record 1673

• Bankes had served apprenticeship as a Carpenter

• Involved in the rebuilding of the City of London after the Great Fire – a Builder

• Confirmation – business records


• Business documents:

• Notebooks containing accounts 1695-1716

• References to payments to skippers – eg Christian Petersen, Peter Nelson

• Purchases of timber – Mr Furnall, Mr Cooper Chapman

• References to Stock in Goods at Paul’s Wharf & Nine Elms


• Business Premises - Timber Wharves:

• Paul’s Wharf

• Nine Elms – “a yard and docks”


• Bankes’ Business Operations –

• Timber importer

• Property Developer

• Typically he leased land

• Built properties

• Rented properties to tenants


• Bankes owned many properties at various times across London – examples:

• Poultney Street, Windmill Street & Princes Street, Westminster.

• George Yard, parish of St.Mary Matfellon - Whitechapel.

• Great Queen Street, Parish of St.Giles in the Field -Middlesex.

• Rosemary Lane, near the Tower of London

• Harcourt Buildings, The Temple, London

• Mary Gold Alley, Strand

• Goodman’s Fields, East of London


• Rental agreements exist

• Signed by Bankes & tenants

• Some agreements include a description of the property

• We have some lists of Bankes’ tenants and the amount of rent they paid


• Financed by mortgages –

• John Hales, Gentleman of Temple Bar, London

• John Cartlitch, Goldsmith of London

• Lord Lempster

• All appear as creditors in John Bankes’ Accounts

• Hales & Cartlitch named as creditors in Bankes’ will 1716

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – What?Worshipful Company of Haberdashers• Freedom March 1672/3 by Redemption. Fine paid

• Junior Warden March 1701/2

• Upper Warden 1705 / 6

• Master 1716 / 17

• Court of Assistants – regular attendance at meetings

• Will dated 1716 – Haberdashers’ Company appointed trustees of Bankes’ Charity

• Charity last paid benefits early 1970s

• Bankes commemorated at Haberdashers’ Hall – portrait, roll of Benefactors & landscape of City

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – What?Worshipful Company of Haberdashers

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – What?Religion

• Will leaves bequests to Thomas Ridgeley, Pastor at Three Cranes Meeting House, Fruiterers’ Alley, Thames Street, and the poor of his congregation

• Ridgeley was a well known Puritan preacher (c1667-1734)

• Will leaves bequest to Deacon at Bishop of Winchester’s Burial Ground, where Bankes was to be buried

• Will tells us that Bankes’ first wife and child – Esther – had been buried at Bishop of Winchester’s Burial Ground

• Above evidence points to non-conformist religion

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) Bankes’ Houses

• Paul’s Wharf, London – Residence 1716 when Will made

• The Mint, London

• The Lottery, Nine Elms – wife lived there after Bankes’ death

• Great house at Goodman’s Fields, Bethnal Green

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – When? Dating Problems

• Birth date

• Only evidence inferred from other sources

• No baptism or birth record traced

• Approx birth date 1650-52 means born in the Interregnum – few records – civil records – few parish registers survive

• Birthplace unknown

• Parents unidentified

• Freedom record – ‘served an Apprentishipp to that trade in the Countrey’ – Where & When?

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) – When? Dating Problems

• First marriage date

• Location unknown

• Date unknown

• Atherton family links with Marsh Baldon, Oxfordshire, but no marriage found there

• 1692 Tax assessment – Wife & one child. Presumably Elizabeth Atherton

• Evidence suggests marriage between abt 1673 & 1692, probably in London

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) –The Rands

• Bankes had no descendants

• We infer that his father must have died and his mother remarried to Rand

• Rand half siblings are our ancestors –

• John Rand

• Joseph Rand

• Elizabeth Rand m Hopkins

• Anne Rand m Joseph Deane

• Mary Rand m Robert Mitchell

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) –An enigma!

• Much known about Bankes’ life in London & business affairs

• Little known about Bankes’ origins & family

• Have researched a number of Bankes families, eg:

• Sir John Bankes of Maidstone, Kent – financier to Charles II

• Edward Bankes, Haberdasher of Cambridgeshire family researched by Pat Dent

• Bankes family of Dorset – Corfe Castle

• No links found to our Bankes

• Apprenticed as tradesman suggests not high born

• Ability to pay Redemption Fee in 1673 suggests reasonable means

John Bankes (abt 1652 – 1720) –An enigma!

• Where to look next?