Collyer

The earliest member of the Collyer clan we know of was a certain John Collyer, of Great Holton in the County of Northampton, Yeoman, whose son – another John was bound in apprenticeship to Richard Jakeway for seven years in 1689. We do not know whether John the elder was alive at the time of this event. John Collyer the Younger became Free of the Stationers’ Company, London, on 1 February 1695/6, and married Alice Tingey on 19 Dec 1700 at St Dionis Backchurch, London.

The Collyer family had connections in Nottingham, England, and it was there that the known children of John and Alice were baptized in the High Pavement Presbyterian Church, Nottingham. These children were John (bap 1710), Joseph (bap 1714), Jeremiah (bap 1718) and Eliezer (bap 1721). Of these children, the main object of our interest was Joseph; he and his wife are the subjects of these pages.

Joseph took his place in the Bankes Pedigree in 1738, when he married a Bankes descendant – Mary Mitchell – in 1738. Apart from the normal family historian’s interest in these people, our research into this couple has been given added spice by the fact that they were extremely accomplished literary figures. They were well known in literary circles in their time, and figure in the Dictionary of National Biography. They have left behind some fascinating records that throw light on their professional and personal lives.

Clicking on the Joseph & Mary Mitchell Collyer link will enable you to read a short account of the lives of these people, and from that feel free to navigate this section of the website. I am sure even non-Collyer visitors will find the content of these pages of great interest.

The descendants of Joseph and Mary are worthy of commemoration on this site. Our latest additions to the site include a new section about the eldest son of Joseph Collyer the Elder and Mary Mitchell. He was Joseph Collyer the Younger, an eminent artist. You can read about him by clicking on the Joseph Collyer The Younger link.

Robert Hanham Collyer was a fascinating man who was a great grandson of Joseph Collyer and Mary Mitchell. To name a few of his activities he was, by turns, a medical doctor, a phrenologist, an inventor, and a lecturer on all these things and more.

If you refer to the Family Tree on this website you will see that Robert was a son of Robert Mitchell Collyer and his wife, Anne Dujardin. Robert Mitchell Collyer was a son of Joseph Collyer the Younger, who in turn was the eldest son of Joseph Collyer and Mary Mitchell. Robert Mitchell Collyer migrated from London to the Channel Island of Jersey fairly early in his life, and there married his spouse. Robert Hanham Collyer was the eldest of his children, and you can see a chronology of his life by clicking on the Robert Hanham Collyer button. When we have had a chance to assimilate the mass of material we have gathered regarding this man we will provide more information about him.

We have accumulated so much information relating to the Collyer branch of the Bankes Pedigree that it will take us quite some time to fully develop this section of Geoffs Genealogy. We therefore suggest that you pay us return visits, in order to keep up to date with the latest material.

To a great extent, our knowledge of the Bankes pedigree has grown due to the interchange of research ideas and material with fellow Bankes descendants. In the case of the Collyer family, we are particularly grateful to Dulcy Collyer Thomas Bryan, of Charlottesville, Va, USA, for her great help and friendship. We hope that any Bankes descendant visitors to the site will be willing to contact us and share their knowledge with us, to our mutual benefit. We would be delighted to hear from you, and very happy to share our knowledge with you.

You can see an abbreviated family tree showing the above people by clicking here.

You can contact me by clicking here.