Benjamin Banks (violin maker)
English violin-maker (1750–1795)
Benjamin Banks (1727–1795) ranks among the finest English violin-makers of the eighteenth century.
Life
Banks was originally apprenticed to his uncle William Hutoft. Banks seems to have occupied Hutoft's premises on Catherine Street in Salisbury upon Hutoft's demise in 1747 until Banks' own in 1795. From 1757 until the late 1760s, Banks was primarily interested in the construction of keyboard instruments. He had a close association with Longman and Broderip in London, who seemed to have been an outlet for his violins (these examples are stamped with the Longman name). The instruments were based on the Amati and Stainer form, the cellos being particularly sought after. Such instruments were often branded 'Banks' - externally and on the inner linings.
Banks's business was carried on after his death by his two sons, James and Henry, who subsequently moved to Liverpool.
Notes
References
Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885).
“Benjamin Banks (violin maker)” enters the record as english violin-maker (1750–1795). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Benjamin, Banks and violin can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16146748. VIAF identifies the subject as 45104096. The Library of Congress control number is n91022396. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1727, 1795, 1747 and 1757.
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This entry incorporates text from “Benjamin Banks (violin maker)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.