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BANNING, David,
Man of Varied Activities.
Anns—Argent, two bars sable, each charged with
as many escallops or.
Crest—On a mount vert, an ostrich argent, hold-
ing in the mouth a key or.
3
The Banning coat-of-arms without the
supporters were granted to Pawle Bayn-
inge, of London, in 1588, by Cooke, ac-
cording to the publications of the Harle-
ian Society, although there is doubt as to
Cooke having filled the office of herald at
that time. This latter point is immate-
rial, as the arms are properly registered
and recorded.
The Banning chart, of which the author
is not given, but who apparently did the
work for Pierson W. Banning, of Los
Angeles, California, gives John Banning
as a brother of James and Richard Banning
and names him as of Talbot County,
Maryland. He is a son of "John Doe"
Banning (Stephen was grandfather of
John Banning, of Talbot County, Mary-
land). "John Doe" Banning was a son of
Stephen Banning (of England in 1714).
He was a son of Stephen Banning, who
died in England in 1688. His wife, Mary
Banning, was of England. He was a son
of John Banning (received the degree of
B. A. from Oxford in 1620) (Subsidiary
Rolls, 1642). He was a son of John Banning,
of Burbage, England, in 1613. He
was a son of John Banning of Burbage,
England, in 1565. He was a son of Robert
Banning, of Burbage, England, in 1539,
who was named as an old man in 1565.
The name Banning is one of greatest
antiquity. It is of Danish origin, apply-
ing in early times to a class called hero
worshippers, and signifying a home or
dwelling. Reference to it is found in the
"Scot and Bard Songs," the earliest bal-
lads on record, where it says "Becca ruled
the Banning." This Becca was, no doubt,
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the hero or ruler of the Banning clan of
Vikings.
The distinctive Anglo-Saxon termination
"ing" has always marked the name,
and in general it has suffered very slight
changes throughout its many hundred
years of existence and travel into differ-
ent countries. Whatever changes have
occurred are due to misspelling or to the
natural accommodation to the languages.
In Holland there appears Banningh, Banningk,
Bannick, and earlier, Benningh,
Benningk, and Bennick. In Denmark
many Bannings live to this day, no doubt
descendants of the first Bannings known,
and in England there are found Bayninge,
Banninge, and Baninge. Germany shows
Bonning, Banninger, Baninger, Behning,
Benning, while in this country is Branning,
formerly De Branning, a French
variety, and from Iceland come Bannon,
Bannin, Branigan, and others of similar
sound.
It is supposed that about the fourth or
fifth century some of the Bannings migrated
from their native place, now known
as Denmark, to what is at present called
Holland, which was but a few miles dis-
tant. Here they must have lived for
nearly a thousand years before coming
into prominence ; at least no trace of the
name has been found in history until
about 1386, w;hen Gerrit Banningh, a cloth
merchant of Nienwendyk, who came from
a hamlet named Banningh by the Stadt of
De Venter, and finally located in Amsterdam,
is mentioned as being the progenitor
of the Banning families in Holland, who
governed that country to a greater or less
extent for nearly three hundred years.
(De Vroedschatap Van Amsterdam, by
Herr Elias, director of the State Archives
of Amsterdam, Pub. by Vincent Loosjes,
about 1895, in Haarlam, Holland, 2 vols.)
Rembrandt's famous painting, the