Mary MacLeod Banks

Who was Mary MacLeod Banks?

Mary MacLeod Banks was a folklorist.

Mary MacLeod McConnel, born in Edinburgh, the daughter of D.C. McConnel, a colonist of Queensland, spent her formative years in Australia and Europe. Her husband Alfred Banks, an English architect, died on a journey to the United Kingdom. She became a long serving member of the Folklore Society from 1906, later serving on its council and as President from 1937−9. Though based in London, Banks travelled extensively throughout Europe gathering material and researching the many papers she wrote for the society's journal. She maintained contact with the Pitt Rivers Museum, and during the second world war donated artefacts she had collected during her fieldwork. Her published works were signed with the abbreviated form M. M. Banks, and were mainly concerned with traditions and festivals.