Links
On this page I invite you to share some of the best websites I have used in researching John Bankes, and the people who feature on the Bankes Pedigree, plus some others that are not necessarily relevant to Bankes, but are of continuing interest to me. Hopefully they may be of use to some of you.
The records offices listed are those that hold much of the information I have used in my research. They may be of interest if you want to look at any of these sources, but do note that as time goes by more and more of the sources I have used are becoming available online. Obviously, not all of you will be as obsessed by Bankes as I am, but you will find that the material can be used for other kinds of research, besides that which I have carried out.
For those of you who are interested in Bankes, much of the information on the sites listed should enable you to place him in his historical context, as well as to research him.
I shall add to the list as and when I can, so don’t forget to come back for another look!
Inevitably, from time to time the content or locations of these sites may change; that is beyond my control. I would be grateful if you would advise me of any problems you may experience in using these links, by clicking here. Additionally, if you know of other websites that may be of interest to me in my research, I would be delighted to hear from you.
Records Offices and Related Sites
If you are researching Welsh history or family history and you want to find out which Welsh archive holds the records relevant to your research are held, try the Archives Wales website.
The COLLAGE database. This site displays images of pictures held in the Guildhall Library’s collection, and thus allows us to see views of London from the past, as depicted by some fine artists. Opportunities to look and buy.
The website of London Metropolitan Archives – one of many fine London repositories, crammed with treasures, which also holds the records that were previously held in the Manuscripts Library of Guildhall Library, London. Please note, though, that many of the LMA records are available on the Ancestry website, so it is probably best to check that before visiting this record office.
The National Archives, (TNA) Kew, is the home of the British Government archives and a veritable treasure trove containing all kinds of official records. Here you can search the catalogue of the National Archives collections . Over the last few years TNA has gradually been making more of their holdings available online, and these can be accessed from this page. For a small charge you can buy copies of these records without leaving your home! Do remember to check the other online websites for various categories of TNA records. For instance, all the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills (1384-1858) are available on the Ancestry website.
The National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth holds a wealth of material of interest to local or family historians with Welsh interests, and has proved of great value in researching the Welsh Bankes descendants. I have found the online digitised Wills and the digitised Welsh Newspapers sections particularly useful.
Westminster City Archives website searchable catalogue. As Bankes had a number of properties in Westminster, it is well worth researching Westminster Archives. Note, however, that Westminster parish registers are online as part of the Find My Past collection.
Other Archives
The Society of Genealogists, London. This library is full to bursting point with all kinds of genealogical material, and has proved immensely useful to me in my research into the Bankes descendants pedigree.
The archives of the Wellcome Foundation contain some medical writings written by Thomas Hunt (1789 – 1879). You can search their catalogue by clicking here.
London History & Livery Companies
The Haberdashers’ Company website. Lots of information about the Company past and present.
If you are interested in the history of London it may well be worthwhile for you to take a look at the London section of the British History Online website. Information and sources on all manner of topics bring history to life.
A list of City of London Livery Companies with links to the individual companies’ websites, enabling you to find loads of information about the City of London Livery Companies that interest you.
The London Lives website makes available, in a fully digitised and searchable form, a wide range of primary sources about eighteenth-century London, with a particular focus on ordinary Londoners. To date (April 2016) it includes over 240,000 manuscript and printed pages from eight London archives, supplemented by fifteen datasets created by other projects. It provides access to historical records containing over 3.35 million name instances. Facilities are provided to allow users to link together records relating to the same individual, and to compile biographies of the best documented individuals. The Project Manager is Dr Sharon Howard. and the project is implemented by the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Sheffield and the Higher Education Digitisation Service at the University of Hertfordshire. Well worth a look, in my opinion, as I have found a number of very interesting sources on this website.
Did your ancestor feature in an Old Bailey trial between the years 1674-1913 You can find out at the Proceedings of the Old Bailey website, and obtain a transcription of any relevant material. I can tell you that a few Bankes descendants feature in these records.
There are a number of excellent map sites on the internet. If you are looking for a really clear, easy to use map of London in 1827 try the Greenwood Map. I have used it quite a lot.
As you may be aware, Charles Booth carried out his survey into life and labour in London, dating from 1886 to 1903. The results of his research is contained in a series of notebooks, which you can see on the web at the LSE’s Charles Booth Online Archive. This is an amazing site, containing the famous Booth Poverty Maps of London and much besides. If your forebears lived in the area covered by the survey you can learn a lot about them here.
If you are interested in London history you will probably find Lucy Inglis’s Georgian London blog a terrific read. This was voted the ‘History Website of 2009 by the online readers of History Today magazine, as well as winning the 2009 Cliopatria Award for ‘Best Individual Blog’ and ‘Best New Blog’. Although it is no longer being updated, there are lots of really interesting articles about life in Georgian London on this site, on a range of topics.
Another blog that I have dipped into quite often in the past, to satisfy my need to read about London history, is Carole Reeves’ Bloomsbury People project. Carole is Outreach Historian at The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine in London, and created this archive of people who lived or worked in Bloomsbury, London as part of the Bloomsbury Project, which was run by UCL Bloomsbury. Among many other goodies There’s an article on there, posted on 1 April 2009, about a Bankes Descendant and Bloomsbury person – Dr Thomas Hunt. If you use this link you will need to scroll down to find the article. The Bloomsbury Project now has its own website, which serves as a gateway to the information gathered by Project members during the Project’s lifetime, 1 October 2007–30 April 2011. This link will take you to the Bloomsbury Project website.
Family and Community History Research
If you look at the tree on this website you will see my Holliday line. James Frederick Holliday (1853-1938) – not my direct ancestor – migrated to Brazil in the late nineteenth century, and his descendants have a very rich history from that time to this. The Holliday Family in Brazil Blog has been set up by George Holliday, with help from Johnnie Holliday, in order to record the family’s history, and to display some quite brilliant family photographs. Have a look!
In researching my Lancashire Culshaw ancestry I find it helpful to subscribe to the family history society local to my ancestors, hence my membership of the Lancashire Family History & Heraldry Society .
There is one family history newsletter that I make a point of reading every time it lands in my inbox – the Lost Cousins Newsletter, written by Peter Calver. It is full of news about developments in our hobby, research tips, and even money saving tips! In order to receive a notification each time a new newsletter is available you need to register with Lost Cousins, which costs you nothing. You can do this by following this link to the Lost Cousins Registration page. Alternatively, you can visit the Lost Cousins home page, where you will see a link to the latest newsletter.
Genuki – Genealogy UK & Ireland This site gives you all sorts of information about family history research, including addresses of, and links to, family history societies. I recommend it highly.
If you are interested in placing your ancestors in their social context, as I am, have a look at the website of the Family & Community Historical Research Society. Another society that I belong to.
Anybody involved in family history research will attest to the great part played in our research by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The mormons make available a vast range of primary sources and indexes at minimal cost. Their Familysearch website is well worth a visit.
Although there are many websites now available that enable you to search the Civil Registration Indexes to Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales, the FreeBMD website is the daddy of them all. This transcription was entirely the work of volunteers, and is free to use, so if you haven’t bought a subscription to one of the genealogy websites I recommend that you give it a go next time you are looking for a reference to order a birth, marriage of death certificate.
Anybody interested in the Dewsberry family and other families connected with the Llanelly Pottery should look at Richard Evans’s website.
UKBMD includes 2,519 links (as at April 2016) to web sites offering on-line transcriptions of UK births, marriages, deaths and censuses. A wide range of other indexes and transcriptions are also available for most counties, including parish records, wills, monumental inscriptions etc. A sister website – UKGDL – provides 1,968 links (as at April 2016) to web sites offering on-line data in a wide range of categories to help us all with our Family History research, while a third website in the family – UKMFH – provides 1,485 links (as at April 2016) to web sites that offer online information relating to Military Family History research. It is worth keeping an eye on these websites, as new links are being added on an ongoing basis.
Other Sites of Interest
The BBC History Website’s Sceptred Isle section contains information about historical events in various periods. Click here to see information relevant to 1660-1702. Alternatively, Click here to see information relevant to 1702-1760. You can find vast amounts of information about various aspects of British history on the BBC site, so while you’re visiting, have a play!
A perpetual calendar. Do you know the day of the week on which your ancestor was born or married? You can find out here. Very useful for all kinds of information about dates.
An Eighteenth Century Chronology, showing significant events that occurred during the lifetime of John Bankes. This helps us to place Bankes in his historical context.
Need some more links to genealogy sites? Genealogylinks.net will help you.
For all sorts of information about UK genealogy have a look at the British Genealogy.com website.
In the Articles section of this website you will see my article, written for the Shropshire FHS Journal, on the use of Directories. In it I make mention of the Leicester University Historical Directories of England & Wales Searchable Digital Library. Whatever type of historical research you are involved in, you really must make good use of this tremendous resource.
John Newton was a minister in the 18th – 19th centuries. He was a famous preacher and writer of hymns, and performed the ceremony when my ancestor – Ann Hunt – married John Stephens in 1791. 2007 was the bicentenary of Newton’s death, and to mark the occasion the John Newton Project has been carrying out research into the life and works of this remarkable man. On their website you will find some of the fruits of the project.
To quote from the Introduction on the website, British History Online “is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust, its aim is to support academic and personal users around the world in their learning, teaching and research”. If that description sounds a bit dry, don’t let that put you off using it to find out about the history of the part of the country that interests you. It’s a terrific source of information.
- This page was last updated on Wednesday December 1st, 2010.