Hello Ivan. Thanks for your comment. Yes, I have seen the Hopkins / Rand marriage you refer to, and thought at the time it looked a good candidate to be the marriage of Elizabeth Rand, half sister to John Bankes. The only problem was that I could not find any other evidence to corroborate this. Knowing that Elizabeth’s spouse died before Bankes made his will I looked for a relevant will or burial, with no success. I also sought the baptism of Edmund Hopkins, son of Elizabeth, hoping to see who the father was. No joy there either. Thus, I keep this one in mind as I search, and hope to find more evidence someday. Your message prompted me to have another go, and today I found a London Freedom record for a certain Edmund Hopkins, dated 1689. The freedom was granted by patrimony, the father being Benjamin Hopkins, Mercer of London. The really interesting thing about this record is that one of the witnesses who signed it was Joseph Rand, Carpenter of Bishopsgate Street. Maybe this is just a coincidence, but I see this as potential evidence of a link between our Rands and this Hopkins clan. Definitely worth further research.

Incidentally, I think I can see where you fit in on the Bankes Pedigree, but we are missing quite a bit of detail on your line of descent. If you were able to fill in some of this for us we would be very grateful. Probably best if you contact me separately if you are happy to do this, using one of the links on the Geoffs Genealogy website. Great to hear from you, and many thanks. Geoff