Trivia |
Please contact me if you have any interesting Debank related snippets to add to the page.
Most popular male given name in this Debank tree:
William-10 occurrences and another 3 as a second name
Most popular female name:
A draw between Mary/Mary Ann and Ann/Annie with 10 occurrences each
Family with the most unusual names:
The honour goes to Edward Debank (no. 12 in tree) and his wife Susannah whose children include Jethro, Shadrach, Dina and Arrisa (later known as Ann).
Weirdest transcription of Debank:
In the 1881 census William Debank (no. 74) and his wife Sarah have become the DOHAWK family!
Black Sheep of the Family:
Plenty of competition here! Debanks seemed to have frequent brushes with the law, although these appear to have decreased as the 19th century progressed.
Winner:
Shadrach Debank (no. 32) for managing to get himself transported to Australia in 1821.
Runner Up:
James Debank (no. 54?). The Gloucestershire Gaol Registers of 1852 record that on 10 November he was committed for trial at the next Assize for "having violently assaulted Hannah Maria Cryer on the 18th of June 1847, with intent to commit rape on her person."
Honourable mentions:
Gabriel Debank (no. 15) was committed to Abingdon Gaol in 1826 on a charge of poaching.
Edward Debank (no. 12) was prosecuted for stealing an oak tree in 1814.
Benjamin Johnson Debank (no. 8) was bound over to be of good behaviour for 6 months in 1818.
John Debank (no. 55?), along with Thomas Paish, was committed for trial at the next Assize on 25 April 1850 "For burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Henry Bond at Coln St Aldwyns on the 14th with intent to commit a felony."
Social History:
The Gloucester Journal for December 1830 and January 1831 mentions William Debank (no. 41) and Charles Gillett (future husband of Beata Debank no. 27a) as being involved in the "Swing" riots in Coln St Aldwyn's and Fairford respectively. The Gloucester Gaol Registers record the following "William Debank, aged 22; John Kent, aged 28; Edward Whitehead aged 27; Committed December 6, 1830, by the Right Hon John Lord Sherborne and William Price, Clerk, charged upon the oaths of Pearcy Smith of Coln St Aldwin, Farmer and Albert Waring of the same parish, labourer, the said Wm Debank, with having assisted with a hammer, the destruction of a threshing machine and two chaff machines on the 27th day of November last at the parish of Coln St Aldwin the property of the said Pearcy Smith; and the said John Kent and Edward Whitehead, with having been severally present at destruction of said machines. Acquitted."
The Swing riots were most prominent in counties where enclosure had been carried out on the largest scale, which included Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Fewer labourers were "living-in" and there was a surplus of labour, resulting in employment changing to a casual daily or weekly basis on lower wages. Further, the introduction of threshing machines replaced the traditional occupation of labourers during the winter months. Two years of poor harvests in 1829 and 1830 resulted in an eruption of rick-burning and machine destruction led by a mythical "Captain Swing". Around 600 rioters were imprisoned, 500 sentenced to transportation, and 19 were executed. William Debank was among 800 acquitted.
Furthest travelled (voluntarily!) from the Cotswolds:
Mark Debank (no. 47) sailed on the Berar from London 17 Oct 1874 with his wife and daughter, arriving in Wellington, New Zealand on 22 January 1875.
Any Kiwi descendants out there?
Enumerator doing his best to hide Debanks from family historians:
In 1841, Matilda Debank is recorded as Matilda D. BANK and her siblings as Jane and Thomas BANK
Who said binge drinking was a modern problem?
The following information was taken from a transcript of reports of Gloucestershire inquests from the Gloucester Journal, to be found on the website www.genebug.net
11 February 1837 "At Quennington, on the body of John DEBANK [no. 26], who was found drowned in the river Coln. The deceased had been drinking at several beer houses late in the evening of the previous Saturday, after which he was never seen until found in the river on Tuesday morning. The jury found that the deceased was drowned in the river Coln, and that, at the time he fell in, he was in a state of intoxication, having drank to excess at the beer houses in the same parish on Saturday evening.