Bank, John

Published: 9 April 2018
Updated: 09 Oct 2018
Researchers: Cindy Dietz, Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust
Editor: Teresa Rust

John Bank, #3 on George S. Stewart’s “Scots at Lynn 1653. Iron Works Inventory.”

Name Variations: Banke, Bank, Banks, Banck, Back

Contributed by Dr. Andrew Millard in July 2018:
According to, Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, in, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018), on page 246, John is categorized as: Definite [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity] Banke/Bank/Banck, John. Residences: Lynn, MA. Appears: 1653. [Banks; DR; SPOWS] For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.

The following John Banks is not proven to be the John Bank from Lynn. I am currently researching this page! ~ Teresa March 2020

First Generation in the New World

1. JOHN¹ BANK, was born in Scotland and died at Chelmsford before 05 Jul 1683, date of Probate Record, Inventory. ¹ He married at Malden about 1666, HANNAH JENKINS. Hannah married, second, JOSEPH PARKER and, third, ROBERT BLOOD.

Biographical Notes:
1. I’ve not found a birth, marriage or death record for John Bank in Lynn, Massachusetts which does imply that he may have moved on after 1653 at the Lynn Iron Works. Was he moved by the company or did he leave after his indenture for better opportunities?
2. The marriages of John and Hannah Jenkins and the daughters are all documented in Torrey’s “New England Marriages before 1700”. Birth records for their daughters can be found in Chelmsford town records.

Children of John and Hannah (Jenkins) Bank:

2. i. HANNAH/SUSANNAH BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford, Massachusetts on 7 May 1666; married, JOSEPH BAKER.
2. ii. SARAH BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford about 1668; m. JOHN GRAVES.
2. iii.MARY BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford, on 7 Jan 1670; married WILLIAM POWER.

Second Generation

2. i. HANNAH/SUSANNAH BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford, Massachusetts on 7 May 1666; married, JOSEPH BAKER.

2. ii. SARAH BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford about 1668; m. JOHN GRAVES.

2. iii.MARY BANK, (John¹), b. at Chelmsford, on 7 Jan 1670; married WILLIAM POWER.

For more information about your ancestor it is HIGHLY recommended that you join the 500+ descendants of the Scottish Prisoners of War Society Facebook GROUP where you may be able to get some advice and possibly more information about your Scottish prisoner of war ancestor.

Sources and Notes:
Cindy Dietz wrote on 07 Apr 2018, “How about John Bank? I am an descendant of the John Bank who married Hannah Jenkins (who was from Malden) about 1666. They probably met in Malden but moved to Chelmsford where John died in 1683. Hannah subsequently married Joseph Parker then Robert Blood. John’s name was spelled various ways in the records, i.e., Bank, Bauke, Back, Balke, Bake etc. This could be a clue that he is the same man as the John Bank who is #3 on the Lynn Iron Works list. (His Highlands accent was so thick no one could figure out the spelling of his name.)
John and Hannah had three daughters born in Chelmsford:
1. Hannah or Susannah b 7 May 1666 m. Joseph Baker
2. Sarah b. abt 1668 m. John Graves
3. Mary b. 7 Jan 1670 m. William Power (my ancestors)
The marriages of John and Hannah Jenkins and the daughters are all documented in Torrey’s “New England Marriages before 1700”. Birth records for their daughters can be found in Chelmsford town records.
Could you please add me (Cindy Dietz ) as a researcher and possible descendant of John Bank?

Please also add me as a descendant/researcher of William Eager. I am descended through his son James who married Tabitha Howe. It’s interesting that William Eager and John Bank were both in Malden about the same time.” ~ Cindy Dietz

1. “John Back, Probate Record, 1683“Middlesex County, MA: Probate File Papers, 1648-1871.Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (From records supplied by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Archives. Digitized images provided by FamilySearch.org) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB536/rd/14460/3344-co1/263796325 [↩]