The Book of Banning
 Now Available at Heritage-Willow Bend Books

A Collection of Biographical Sketches of Bannings throughout the Centuries in Europe and the USA, Set in their Genealogical and Historical Context.
by Elisabeth van Schaick-Banning

The Book of Banning is the result of years of intensive, personal research. It is a collection of biographical sketches of Bannings throughout the centuries, both in Europe and the USA, set in their genealogical and historical context; providing a closer look at who these people were and what their influence was on the society they lived in.

Much of the data, gleaned from a wide range of European sources, is available in English for the first time, translated for this publication from Dutch, Latin, German, Danish and Swedish. A great deal of the information presented on these pages is based on J.A.W. Banning’s 1934 genealogy (published in the Netherlands) which, to date, has been unavailable to English-speaking persons. Without access to this volume, Banning heritage beyond American emigration is often inaccessible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

   Acknowledgements                                           5
   Foreword                                                   7
   Preface                                                    9
1  Back to Ban: history of a name ........................   11
2  The Genealogies .......................................   41
3  The Netherlands
      Early Settlement ...................................   47
      Amsterdam ..........................................   49
      Ulft, Gendringen and other Dutch Cities ............  129
      The Northern Provinces: Friesland, Groningen, et al   142
4  Genealogy of the Amsterdam Regent's Family of Banning .  158
5  New Light on the Oldest Generations of Banning
      in Amsterdam - ties to Assendelft ..................  176
6  Banning Family of The Hague: fragment genealogy .......  193
7  Van Banning ...........................................  195
8  Heraldry: Bannings and Coats-of-Arms ..................  200
9  (Medieval) Homesteads in the Netherlands and Germany ..  209
10 East Frisia, Germany and Scandinavia:
      East Frisia ........................................  236
      Germany ............................................  242
      Banning genealogy of Tecklenburg ...................  247
      Banning genealogy of Wettringen ....................  251
      Scandinavia ........................................  261
11 Banning of England ....................................  264
      Dedham and London ..................................  270
      Genealogy of Dedham and London .....................  295
      Wiltshire ..........................................  301
      Bristol / Miscellaneous ............................  304
12 Bannings of the United States .........................  312
13 Bannings of Canada ....................................  378
14 Banning on the Map ....................................  380
   List of Illustrations .................................  388
   Bibliography ..........................................  396
   Index .................................................  409



The book includes a chapter on the history, etymology and origin of the name, which is very old and first occurs as a reference to a Saxon tribe in centralGermany, in the 6th century. After this obscure and much-debated beginning, we find aldermen by that name in Westphalia, (Germany) in 1234, related names of some 40 fiefs or homesteads in the Netherlands and Germany dated between 933-1500 AD, and subsequently in the south-east of England, as well as in Norfolk as the 11th century market town Banningham.

The first Dutch Bannings were aldermen in Zutphen (1294-1358), and the first in England were mentioned in 1364. These were the ancestors of most Bannings who emigrated to the New World, of whom the first are recorded in the early 18th century, and included in this publication.

In addition to carefully researched and extensive biographical, genealogical and historical information, the book includes a chapter on the above-mentioned homesteads and descriptions of various Banning coats-of-arms, a summary of the existing genealogies (from 1903 on), as well as many Banning towns and streets, some of which still exist today.

Captain Frans Banning Cocq of the Nightwatch by Rembrandt
Rembrandt's " Nightwatch" was commissioned by Captatin Frans Banning Cocq

It comprises 425 pages, over 150 portraits and illustrations, and several European fragment genealogies. Bannings are featured on many paintings catalogued and held largely by European museums, including the oldest group portraits of the Netherlands (ca. 1519 AD).

The family included some very wealthy, influential and enterprising members, such as the Amsterdam patrician family in the Golden Era, on whom considerable focus is placed, and the prominent Bannyngs (Bayninge) of London in the same period.

A small sample of those included in the volume: 

Captain Frans Banning Cocq of the Nightwatch by Rembrandt, and his family;

Jan Jansz. Banning, master of law, founder of the Clarissen convent in Amsterdam in 1513 (cover illustration),well-known historic figure in the reclamation of land surrounding the capitol city;

Jan Banning Coeckebacker, who financed part of the first Dutch trip around the world by Olivier van Noort in 1599;

Sir Paul Bayninge of London, his ancestors and descendants, which included Barbara Villiers, Duchess of Cleveland (daughter of Mary Bayninge and William Villiers, Viscount Grandison) who was the favourite mistress of Charles II and bore him five illegitimate children;

Prof. dr. Willem Banning, renowned Dutch church leader and party leader, professor and minister, author, sociologist and theologian;

Dr. Emile Th.J. Banning, founder of the Belgian Congo and close friend and associate of King Leopold of Belgium, after whom Banningville (the present day Bandudu in Zaire) was named;

Dr. Edmund Prior Banning (1811-1888), one of the pioneers of orthopedic surgery;

General Phineas T. Banning, founder of Wilmington, CA, in whose honour Banning, CA is named, and his family;

Jeremiah Banning, the adventurous ship’s captain and plantation owner in Maryland (1733-1798), with excerpts from his diary;

Mary E. Banning, posthumously recognised mycologist and artist, now represented in the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.

and many, many more – doctors, adventurers, politicians, entrepreneurs and clergymen; but also Bannings of lesser repute who made a name for themselves, or were simply the subject of interesting anecdotes. Includes descriptions and illustrations of manors, castles and landholdings held by the family in previous centuries

The Book of Banning :
Author: Elisabeth van Schaick-Banning
5½ in. x 8½ in. , paper, maps, index, 425 pp.
Published in February/March 2005 by Heritage-Willow Bend Books in Maryland, USA
ISBN 078843286-9
Price: US$ 37 (€ 29)
Availability: can be ordered through the bookstore or directly from the publisher at Heritage-Willow Bend Books.

Information on a new book containing an in-depth study on the original European genealogies of the Banning family, as well as DNA results, can be found at http://genealogies.banning.ca to be published in 2006.

About the author:
Elisabeth Banning was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as a direct descendant of Maurits Arnoldus Banning (1656) of Friesland, a northern province of the Netherlands. Her parents emigrated to Canada in 1951 and from the age of six months she was raised with her four brothers in Canada, returning to the Netherlands in 1969 to study art. Following completion of the art academy in Amsterdam, Elisabeth pursued various lines of work until her marriage to H.W. van Schaick, a geriatrician, in 1977, and the birth of their three children. Pursuits in subsequent years included the founding of one of the first community school programmes in the Netherlands, frequently speaking at conferences on the subject, and extensive work in translating and journalism. Her first two publications, in Dutch, appeared in 1990 and 1997. The Book of Banning evolved from a translation of her own genealogy into English and consequently further research into the Banning family. She is presently working on a compilation of the European Banning genealogies

A Banning DNA Surname Project has been initiated at www.dnaheritage.com,  to establish whether there is a genetic link between the various branches of the family from Europe, North America and other countries. Although this has only just been started, plans are to include the findings in a following publication of the European genealogies.