Banister Flight was born about 1757, the son of Thomas Flight and Christian Trulock. He was named after his maternal grandfather Banister Trulock and it seems the perfect name for a carpenter!

In 1783 Banister married Mary Hensman at Kimbolton, Huntingdon. They had one child, Thomas born in 1792.

From London electoral registers we can see that Banister and his son owned property at 44, 45 and 46 Gray’s Inn Lane.

Banister may have owned property in Gray’s inn Lane but he resided at Stone-bridge, Tottenham. He also lived at Lewes in Sussex.

In 1804 Banister Flight applied to join the London Stock Exchange.

He was also a director of the London Annuity Society for the Benefit of Widows.

When he died in 1838 (of paralysis) he left his estate to his wife Mary and son Thomas. Mary died just two years later in 1840.

Thomas Flight

In 1812 Thomas, like his father, was given Freedom of the City of London as part of the Carpenter’s Company. His occupation was banking and moneylending and it made him very wealthy.

He lived partly in Brighton and was an early commuter to London.

Thomas married at Eton in Buckinghamshire in 1840 at the age of 48, his wife Matilda Catherine Budd was just 23! They went on to have eight children. It may have been Thomas’ first marriage but they weren’t his first children.

Previously Thomas lived with Maria Frances Fletcher, a widow and they had five children together.

• Maria Flight Fletcher b 1829
• Mary Flight Fletcher b 1830
• Thomas Flight Fletcher b 1832
• Banister Flight Fletcher b 1833 – 1899
• Emily Flight Fletcher b 1837

The children were all sent away to school at a young age and the 1841 census shows the four eldest children at school on the Isle of Thanet. Emily age 4 was living with a nurse Eliza Rickards at Seymour Place, St Pancras.

It’s not clear what happened to Maria Frances Fletcher, she may have married Thomas Prier. Of the children I have only traced Banister Flight Fletcher, more of him later.

Once married Thomas wasted no time in starting a second family with Matilda. They produced eight daughters!

• Christiana 1841-1931
• Matilda 1842
• Mary 1843-1920 (two daughters called Mary is helpful when researching a family tree!!)
• Sophia 1846-1944
• Frances 1847-1933
• Annie 1848-1941
• Septima 1852-1926 (by now he seems to have run out of female family names to use!)
• Octavia 1853-1926

In 1843 Thomas was a beneficiary of his aunt Christian Flight’s will. She bequeathed him £3000.

By 1871 they were living at Grecian Villa, Beulah Hill, Norwood in Surrey. He died on 15th Feb 1877 at Brighton aged 85. Cause of death was old age and exhaustion.

Today Grecian Villa is St Joseph’s College

Banister Flight Fletcher

Banister was born on 11th Aug 1833 and baptised on 29th Jun 1836 at St Mary Paddington along with his siblings. In 1864 he married Eliza Jane Phillips.

He was an architect and surveyor for the board of trade. He was also the Liberal MP for North West Wiltshire. He went on to become the professor of architecture and building construction at King’s College in 1890.

He had 12 children, his eldest son also called Banister Flight Fletcher was knighted. His youngest son was memorably named Ernest Tertius Decimus Fletcher – obviously chosen to help future family historians!

Thomas Flight’s Daughters

Thomas had eight daughters from his marriage to Matilda Budd.

Christiana 1841-1931

She may have been named after her great aunt Christian Flight. When Christian died in 1843 she left Christiana £100. Christiana was presented to Queen Victoria.

In 1863 she married William James Nevill and they had 11 children. She emigrated to New Zealand and died there in 1931.

Matilda 1842-

Matilda was born in 1842 in Highbury. In 1867 she married William Henry Smith. They emigrated to Australia and had five children. There are so many Matilda Smiths that it isn’t possible to determine when she died.

Mary 1843-1920

Thomas had two daughters called Mary and one called Maria which complicated the search for information! Mary was born in 1843 and married Thomas Howse the younger, a merchant, in 1865. They had four children. Mary died in 1920 in Kent.

Sophia 1846-1944

Sophia was born in 1846 in Upper Brook St, London. In 1868 she married Edwin Francis Hickman and they had five children. Sophia died in 1944 in her 99th year.

Frances 1847-1933

Frances was born in 1847. In 1874 she married George Robinson Bridge Drummond. At the time of their marriage he was a Captain in the Bombay Army and he went on to become the Chief Constable of Sussex. He was knighted in 1904. They had four daughters.

Annie 1848-1941

Annie was born in 1848 and never married. She never worked and was described on the census as having independent means. She died in 1941.

Septima 1852-1926

Septima was born in 1852 in Norwood, Surrey. In 1871 she married Lewis William Lamotte a tobacco broker. They had seven children. Their eldest daughter married Arthur Herbert Lanyon. Septima died in 1926.

Octavia 1853-1926

Octavia, the eighth daughter was born in 1853. She married Bonham Carter Evelegh, a journalist and author, in 1882. They had five children. Their son George was held prisoner by the Japanese during the 2nd World War. Both George and his brother Aldridge, were given freedom of the city of London and admitted to the Company of Carpenters like their ancestors.