First found in Yorkshire in eastern England where they held a family seat from about the year 1200. One of the first on record was Simon Bankes of Bank Newton in Craven, Yorkshire.

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Banks arrived in North America very early: James Bankes who settled in Virginia in 1635; Edward Banks settled in Virginia in 1623; James Banks settled in Virginia in 1635; William Banks settled in Maryland in 1774. In Newfoundland, Cyril settled in Bay de Verde in 1716.

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