Walks in Yorkshire Wakefield and its neighbourhood by William Stott Banks

William Stott Banks (1821–1872) was an English lawyer, writer, and

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

Life

Banks was born at

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, on 9 March 1821, to father William Banks and mother Harriot Stott, and was baptised at the congregationalist Salem Chapel on 15 April 1821. He received a scanty education at the Lancasterian school in Wakefield. At the age of 11 he started his working life as office-boy to John Berry, a local solicitor. He was later clerk in the office of Messrs. Marsden & Ianson, solicitors and clerks to the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

justices, and upon the dissolution of the firm in 1844 he remained with Mr. Ianson, to whom he subsequently articled himself. After the usual interval Banks was admitted as an attorney in

Hilary Term Hilary term is the second academic term of the University of OxfordWakefield Borough Commission in March 1870 he was elected clerk to the justices, an office which he retained until his death. Banks died at his house in Northgate, Wakefield, on 25 December 1872.

Works

Banks had, in 1865, become known as an author by the publication of his 'List of Provincial Words in use at Wakefield'. This is one of the earliest glossaries of a

Yorkshire dialect Yorkshire dialect, also known as Yorkshire English, Broad Yorkshire, Tyke, or Yorkie, is a grouping of several regionally neighbouring Dialect, dialects of English language, English spoken in Yorkshire. Yorkshire experienced drastic dialect ...

. It was used as the main source on the Wakefield dialect by

Alexander John Ellis Alexander John Ellis (14 June 1814 – 28 October 1890) was an English mathematician, philologist and early phonetician who also influenced the field of musicology. He changed his name from his father's name, Sharpe, to his mother's maiden nam ...

in his work ''On Early English Pronunciation'', and was also used as a reference for several words in Joseph Wright's ''

English Dialect Dictionary English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

''. A 2011 article noted that many of the words recorded by Banks have fallen out of use in Wakefield.Aveyard, Edward (2011), ''The Historic Dialect of Wakefield'', ''Transactions of the Yorkshire Dialect Society'' The following year he gave to the world the first of his manuals, entitled 'Walks in Yorkshire: I. In the Northwest; II. In the North-east,' which had previously appeared in weekly instalments in the columns of the '' Wakefield Free Press''. Shortly before his death he issued a companion volume, ''Walks in Yorkshire: Wakefield and its neighbourhood.'' .

References

External links

*
''Walks in Yorkshire: the north east, comprising Redcar, Saltburn, Whitby, Scarborough and Filey''
William Stott Banks, J. Russell Smith,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1866
''Walks in Yorkshire, I. in the northwest, II. in the north east''
William Stott Banks, J. Russell Smith,

, 1866
''Walks in Yorkshire: Wakefield and its neighbourhood''
William Stott Banks, Longmans, Green, Reader and Dyer,

, 1871 {{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, William Stott 1821 births 1872 deaths People from Wakefield English antiquarians 19th-century English lawyers