Binks is an English topographical or residential surname of pre-medieval origins. It derives from the word "bink", a northern form of the Olde English pre 7th Century "benc", and literally means a bench. In the context of a surname it is used to describe a raised bank of earth, probably a defensive wall, around a village or farm. The surname is particularly popular in Yorkshire, an area consistently raided by the Scots from the time of the departure of the Romans in the year 410, through to 1603, when James V1 of Scotland became also James !st of England. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, and early examples of the recordings include Thomas del Binkys, in the "Subsidy Rolls" of Yorkshire in the year 1301, whilst later in 1560, in one of the earliest surviving church registers, Sethe Binkes was christened at the town of Leconfield, East Yorkshire. Other recordings include Robert Binckes, also recorded as Binks, in the Oxford University Register of 1583 where he was a student, and on April 25th 1600, Anna, the daughter of Rowland Binks was christened at Sheffield. On February 21st 1733 Dorothy Binks and Richard Hardaker were married in Crosthwaite, Cumberland. It is said that the suffix "s" in the name may refer to the "son of Bink", but is more likely to imply "one who lives by the bink". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Benkys, which was dated 1297, in the "Subsidy Rolls" of Yorkshire". This was during the reign of King Edward 1of England, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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