Mary BANKS

Abt 1802 - 1876  (74 years)

• Name	Mary BANKS
  	Surname from daughter Martha's birth certificate.
  Birth	Abt 1802	Melksham, Wiltshire   [1, 2, 3]
  	POSSIBLY: MELKSHAM Parish Baptism 1805 May 26 - Mary Ann Brinkworth, dau of Ann BANKS (taken from White Horse Index) LACOCK Parish Baptisms 1800 Nov 30 - Mary, dau of Edward & Ann BANKS 1800 Dec 07 - Mary, dau of Betty BANKS (taken from White Horse Index) According to Harold GADD (who heard it from his father, who had known James MILLINER), Mary's father was an astronomer, and the family lived at Holt, nr Melksham. The only two Banks baptisms in the Holt registers are to Donley George and Charlotte BANKS. One of these children might be the Henry BANKS, stone mason aged 53, born Melksham, living in Bedminster in 1861. Mary might alternatively be the daughter of George BANKS - he was a widower when he married Lucy SHEPHERD in 1822 in Melksham. His previous marriage was to Mary KINGTON, 17 Jun 1799 at Melksham. Mary MILLINER (BANKS) died in the same area of Melksham as Lucy BANKS had lived. Against this theory is the fact that Mary did not join the Baptist Church until 1837, while George was a member from before Mary's birth. William HERSCHEL was active as an astronomer in Bath (less than 10 miles from Holt), from where in 1781 he discovered Uranus. Astronomers at the time were themselves scientific instrument makers. It's possible that Harold GADD's account is a confused memory of musical instrument making, as practised by England's foremost maker Benjamin BANKS in Salisbury.
  Gender	Female
  Baptism	07 May 1837	Old Broughton Road Baptist Church, Melksham, Wiltshire
  		Melksham Baptist Chapel, built circa 1776.
  Residence	Abt 1840-bef 1851	Jamaica, West Indies
  Census	30 Mar 1851	Old Broughton Road, Melksham, Wiltshire
  	Wool Picker
  	Age: 49
  		1851: Old Broughton Road, Melksham
  Event	1861	Old Broughton Road Baptist Church, Melksham, Wiltshire
  	Excluded from the Church. [Not recorded in minutes, but noted in membership list].
  Census	7 Apr 1861	Broughton Road, Melksham, Wiltshire   [3]
  	Age: 60
  		1861: Broughton Road, Melksham
  Census	2 Apr 1871	Broughton Road, Melksham, Wiltshire   [2]
  	Alms Woman
  	Age: 69
  		1871: Broughton Road, Melksham
  		Alms Houses at The City, Old Broughton Road / Bath Road, Melksham
  		Alms Houses given by Miss Rachel Fowler to the town of Melksham in 1864.
  Death	21 Feb 1876	The City, Bath Road, Melksham, Wiltshire   [1]
  	Age: 73
  	Cause: Chronic Bronchitis 2 years
  	Ellen Gadd, granddaughter, present at death.
  		Mary MILLINER nee BANKS death certificate
  Person ID	I81	Gadd
  Last Modified	3 Apr 2010

  
  

  Father	HOLT BANKS
  Family ID	F5764	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Father	MELKSHAM BANKS
  Family ID	F5767	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	James T MILLINER,   b. 1803, Melksham, Wiltshire d. 05 Nov 1884, 7 Kenilworth Terrace/Earlsmead Terrace, Bristol (Age 81 years)
  Marriage	25 Dec 1821	Melksham, Wiltshire   [4]
  Event	24 Nov 1841	Sherborne Journal (quoted in Freeman's Journal)
  	"On Thursday last about thirty individuals of the labouring population left Melksham, as emigrants to the island of Jamaica, whither several had gone before, who are doing well. They are employed on the coffee plantations on the hills."
  Notes	September 1868 H J Milliner, aged 50, Preacher, took ship from Kingston Jamaica to New York. Might this be one James's sons, with incorrect age and initials?! The Baptists in Jamaica established, in 1843, the "Calabar Theological College" for the training of Ministers for the local ministry and also as missionaries to Africa and the Caribbean. The Baptist work in the Cameroons, West Africa, was started by the Baptists of Jamaica in 1846. In 1849, some of the Baptist Churches in Jamaica came together to form the Jamaica Baptist Union. The Baptist Churches had seven years before declared their independence of the Baptist Missionary Society.
  Children	1. George MILLINER,   c. 27 Oct 1822, Melksham Parish Church, Wiltshire d. 14 Feb 1875, Southfield Penn, Trelawney, Jamaica (Age ~ 52 years) + 2. Everes(t) MILLINER,   b. Abt 1823, Melksham, Wiltshire d. 29 Mar 1895, Bristol Lunatic Asylum, Stapleton Road, Bristol (Age 72 years) + 3. James MILLINER,   b. 1827   d. 26 Aug 1858, Spring Garden, Jamaica (Age 31 years) + 4. John MILLINER + 5. Martha "Hannah" MILLINER,   b. 22 May 1838, Melksham, Wiltshire d. 28 Feb 1894, Darlington Road, Darlington, NSW, Australia (Age 55 years) + 6. Sarah Maria MILLINER,   b. 15 Aug 1840, Melksham, Wiltshire d. Q4 1923, The Green, Westbury, Wiltshire (Age 82 years)
  Photos		Map of Jamaica in 1886
  Documents		Baptist Missionary Herald 1861 - Letter from Rev George MILLINER
  Histories » Slide Show		MILLINER Orphan Papers "Jas. Milliner Senr, member of Baptist Church Melksham, with wife, 3 sons, & 3 daughters, were sent to Jamaica as Agricultural laborers about 1840 where they remained several years, but in consequence of sickness & misfortune, all returned to England, except the 3 sons, James, George, & John." Although slavery had nominally been abolished in Jamaica in 1834, it continued under the "Apprenticeship System" until August 1838. This led inevitably to a shortage of labour in Jamaica, which the MILLINERs were sent to alleviate.
  		Jamaican Immigration 1840-1841 Agricultural labourers were brought to Jamaica from Great Britain and elsewhere to alleviate the labour shortage.
  		Collapse of the Jamaican Sugar economy "Sickness and misfortune" were cited by George MILLINER (see MILLINER Orphan Papers) as the reason for the return to England of the parents and daughters of the family. The summary of these parliamentary papers suggests that the misfortune may have related to general economic collapse, and also makes reference to the alleged incitement of the Black population by Baptist ministers.
  		Papers relating to immigration to Jamaica The MILLINERs were probably brought to Jamaica under the "Bounty scheme": planters were paid a bounty for finding and employing labourers (some from England) and paying for their passage.
  		The MILLINER Story as told by Harold GADD
  		The MILLINER Story as told by Herbert MILLINER The story was passed down through James's daughters to Harold GADD, and through his sons to Herbert MILLINER. Compare and contrast!
  Family ID	F32	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Dec 2011

  
  

• Sources

  [S408] BANKS, Mary - Death Certificate, (27 February 1876). [S354] 1871 Census, (2 April 1871). [S361] 1861 Census, (7 April 1861). [S271] Witnessed by T. Hedges (friend?) & Caleb Angel (regular witness).