 1885 - 1954 (69 years)
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| Name |
Bernice Thornton Banning |
| Born |
21 Feb 1885 |
Providence, Rhode Island, USA  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Died |
28 Sep 1954 |
Ventura, California, USA |
| Person ID |
I07405 |
Family Tree |
| Last Modified |
29 Apr 2018 |
| Father |
Edwin Thomas Banning, b. 11 May 1864, Danielson, Connecticut, USA , d. 18 May 1940, San Diego, California, USA (Age 76 years) |
| Mother |
Isabella Thornton, b. 10 Jun 1864, Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom , d. 15 Jun 1915, San Diego, California, USA (Age 51 years) |
| Married |
13 Jun 1883 |
Taunton, Massachusetts, USA |
| Family ID |
F2531 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Notes |
- Bernice Thornton Banning was born on February 21, 1885, in Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated from Brown University in 1905 and the University of Wisconsin in 1910. In 1916, she set out for the Far East, to travel in Japan, China, and India, and to teach in Ceylon. She was appointed the first principal of the Buddhist Girls School in Ceylon and filled that post for a year, from January to December 1917. The school, founded by Celestina Dias, also known as Mrs. Jeremias Dias, was located in a house called "The Firs" on Turret Road in Colombo. Now called Visakha Vidyalaya, the school has since moved to larger quarters.
After completing her stint at the Buddhist Girls School, Bernice continued in her travels in Ceylon and India. In 1923, she applied for a passport at Madras, India, so that she might stay on there "for the purpose of study and recreation, on behalf of the Theosophical Society." The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky and her associates, established its International Headquarters in Madras, a suburb of Adyar, India, sometime before the turn of the century.
I don't know how long Bernice Banning remained in the Orient, but by 1930, she had returned to the United States and was living in Meiners Oaks in the Ojai Valley of Ventura County, California. The head of her household was the elder Margaret Reed, Bernice's companion in her Asian travels. Bernice continued in her work as a teacher. (She had taught at least as far back as 1910 when she was a university instructor.) She also wrote, though perhaps only a little for publication. Her story, "Finger of Kali," was published in the Winter 1931 (or Dec. 1930-Jan. 1931) issue of Oriental Stories. Oriental Stories, then in its second issue, would have been the perfect place for Bernice to display her knowledge of the Far East. The only other credits I have found for her are pieces written for The Adyar Bulletin, a Theosophical publication, and printed in the July 1915 and February 1919 issues. Bernice T. Banning died on September 28, 1954, in Ventura County, California. She was 69 years old.
-- Tellers of Weird Tales; Artists & Writers in The Unique Magazine
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