Re the possibility of mixedup names, I've always considered my mother to be mentally very intelligent, good memory, always bemoaning the poor standards of grammar etc in today's media or business letters, always doing complicated crosswords etc etc, all since her 1940s EDGS days. However since I've started researching our line it seems her memory of close family names, "facts" & faces is quite ropey, especially when compared to the BMD records and her slightly older sister's memory. Many names & family ties she thought were fact are actually confused in her memory, perhaps as she had so many aunts & uncles as a child. Plus of course there's plenty of cases where a family is not what it seems, with siblings actually being "adopted" cousins etc.

Until a year ago I'd generally believed most people used their first "personal" name for most if not all the time. ("personal" = name or names before their Surname). I'd always referred to that as their Christian name, or Baptised name I guess. Usually this name was the "formal" name used on official paperwork etc and for use outside the family. End of.
However now I know different.

Re the census returns, I've seen quite a few examples where simple nicknames were used instead of the official "personal" name. Probably due to my mother's enthusiasm for correct English Grammer, I always write Jeffrey as my name even on simple computer forms etc even though I dislike it and everyone calls me Jeff; hence that went on my Census form. But not everyone does or did that.
As you say when searching for the common traditonal name Elizabeth, I now start with the obvious(perhaps) of just "Eliza" to hopefuly find both, then "Liz" and if I remember "Lil/Lily" too. All common abbreviations of a somewhat clumsy name that was likely to be shortened in general usage. However it was only lately I also thought of Bet, Beth and Bessie - silly really as I recall "good Queen Bess" (aka Elizabeth 1st) from my schooldays, but it just seems off the mark.

My researches have taught me just how common it was for a child having more than one "personal" names for one of them to have family connections (the father's, say). I've learnt that in some regions sometimes this would be the first formal name ( so in my old thoughts the "primary" & popular name). However actual family usage was to use the apparently less important second name, presumably for convenience within the household between say Robert Senior & Robert Junior; maybe that was actually the parent's preferred personal choice over the "traditional/formal" one they felt obliged to follow.
I'm now almost 50, yet until 18months ago I hadn't realised how often in history we had all repeated personal names, especially I think where there are Welsh ancestors; there are an awful lot of William Jones in my line including now my only son.
My sister married a Geordie. He is Robert, one of a very long line of Robert, he was known as "Bob", his son's Rob, his is Robbie etc etc, yet they all are officially named Robert. What confusion this will bring !
And yes his surname is Walton !!...

This website gives an excellent insight into names and their history.
http://www.rogerdarlington.co.uk/useofnames.html#British

A particularly relevant part for Foresters states
"There is a tendency in Wales for people not to use their first personal name but instead their second. Another trend is for the name of the place of birth to be a second name.

At one time, the Welsh used an ancient patronymic naming system whereby the children of a marriage took their father's forename as their surname. As a result, surnames were not fixed and changed from generation to generation. This practice continued up until the early 1800s in some areas, with rural areas clinging to the patronymic system longer than urban areas. Sometimes the word 'ap' (originally 'mab') meaning 'son of' was incorporated into the new surname. A distinctive feature of Wales is the mutation of 'ap' into the following first name to make a family name, so that ap Hywel becomes Powell, ap Huw becomes Pugh, and ap Richard becomes Pritchard. Since the origin of many Welsh surnames is a first name, one finds frequent occurrences of the same surnames in Wales, even when the familes are not related, such as Evans, Thomas and Williams."

Finally, you may recall this comedy take on an official 1980s British Leyland TV advert proudly exalting their new robot assembly line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU-tuY0Z7nQ

If Matilda is Richard's gran, then her last name might not have been Banks, either because of remarriage, or because she's on the distaff side of the family.

I know I have mentioned it before, but my grandfather, Charles George, was "George" on one census, and my grandmother, Patience Nellie, was generally "Nellie" in most instances, and my uncle, Clarence Henry was almost always "Harry", so it helps to look a little outside the box.

When I was looking for emigration info for my great aunt and uncle, I missed my Aunt repeatedly, because they emigrated without my Aunt Katie (she came went to Canada later with another relative) which I hadn't expected, and because my Aunt was recorded not as Elizabeth Ann, or E.A. which she also used, but as "Bessie". Her husband was registered at birth as "Alec", but it was frequently recorded as "Alex" or "Alexander" subsequently.

Any chance that Matilda was Grannie's name instead of Mum"s?

Name: Robert Banks
Age: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Relation: Son
Father's Name: Robt. Banks
Mother's name: Sarah A. Banks
Gender: Male
Where born: Wiltshire, England

Civil parish: Bristol St Philip and Jacob Out
County/Island: Gloucestershire
Country: England

Street Address: 25 Amberley St
Education:

Employment status: View image
Occupation: Lithographic Printer

Registration district: Barton Regis
Sub-registration district: St Philip & St Jacob
ED, institution, or vessel: 6
Neighbors: View others on page
Piece: 2494
Folio: 113
Page Number: 4
Household Members: Name Age
Robt. Banks 47
Sarah A. Banks 43
Wm.J. Banks 20
Robert Banks 18
Sarah Banks 17
Alfd. Banks 15
Thos.S. Banks 9
Jno. Banks 7
Louisa Townsend 20

OR

Robert Banks
Age: 40
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1861
Relation: Head
Spouse's Name: Elizabeth Banks
Gender: Male
Where born: Grittleton, Wiltshire, England

Civil parish: Bristol
Ecclesiastical parish: Easton All Hallows
County/Island: Gloucestershire
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View image

Registration district: Bristol
Sub-registration district: St George
ED, institution, or vessel: 5
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 75
Piece: 2388
Folio: 82
Page Number: 12
Household Members: Name Age
Robert Banks 40
Elizabeth Banks 42
George R Banks 12
William J Banks 10
Albert E Banks 5
Fred Banks 2

Trouble is she would have been 53 when my grandfather was born! Not impossible but unlikely

agreed , but so far its hard to take anything too literally :-)

If your "family" are travellers then tracking them is going to be hard and from previous experience dates/ages tend to "shift" rather than be accurate :-(

Name: Matilda Banks
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1895
Age at Death: 65
Registration district: Tewkesbury
Inferred County: Gloucestershire
Volume: 6a
Page: 374

from Glos BMD's
BANKS Matilda
65
1895 Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury
24 2

and given the earlier comment re Tewkesbury ....

Marriages Sep 1861
BANKS Robert St.Geo.Han.Sq. 1a 365
Clubb Matilda St Geo Han Sq 1a 365

which I suspect gets cast aside equally as quickly :-)

Which goes back to my earlier questions, how sure are you of the answers
This has some elements of lateral solution - Was mother Matilda a BANKS ? Did father Robert remarry ? Was Robert a BANKS ? Is brother Jesse a BANKS ? etc etc

Since I can find so little documentation, I am wondering whether they were perhaps a family of travellers or Romanies? And although he claims a link with Gloucestershire , maybe he did not spend much time there? Did foresters move around a lot for work?

The only Jesse Banks PRs seem too early and in Hartpury so not true Forest(?)
1834 BANKS Jesse Baptism Hartpury
1858 BANKS Jesse Marriage Hartpury
1873 BANKS Jesse Baptism Hartpury

The only Matilda Banks PRs are infant deaths in Cinderford 1885 & 1902.

This is the only Robert BANKS burial for 1911 +/- 20yrs:

Record_ID: 266565
Entry_Number: 787
Year: 1920
Month: Jun
Day: 2
Surname: BANKS
Forenames: Robert
Residence: Aylburton
Age_at_death: 57
Officiating_Minister: H B Parker
Event: Burial
Cause_of_death:
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: P209 IN 1/37
Page_No: 99
Parish_Chapel: Lydney
Soundex: B520

If indeed he was age 57 then his birth is abt 1863 as per your post !

HOWEVER the corresponding possible Baptism off this site is confusing wrt the parents !? This is the only possible site BR of the 3 in the database.

Record_ID: 39299
Entry_Number: 533
Year: 1860
Month: Oct
Day: 28
Parents_Surname: BANKS
Child_Forenames: Robert
Fathers_Forenames: John
Mothers_Forenames: Hannah
Mothers_Surname:
Residence: Lydney
Occupation: Post Boy
Officiating_Minister: Danl. Bell Hankin Curate
Event: Baptism
Memoranda:
Notes:
Register_Reference: PFC209 IN 1/5
Page_Number: 67
Parish_Chapel: Lydney
Soundex: B520

EDIT: Just realised I'm getting the Robert & Richard confused wrt likely birthdates.

Please can you confirm my original interpretation that we're searching Robert d1912, son? of Richard George b 1883 Wilts, Robert's mother Matilda & older brother Jesse.
Sorry if I appear dim but want to be clear, if this is so presumably Robert died quite young ?.
Presumably you don't have any more names than these ?.

In fact, I'm now reading it differently again, namely that the "his" you refer to wrt marriage record & mother/brother are in fact your g-father Richard George and NOT RObert as I'd first thought. If this is true, then please remind me how Robert is linked, and please tell me which of the above scenarios to be correct ?.

Thanks from "nice but dim" ;-)

From FreeBMD there is a Bank's line in the Bridport, Dorset, area including the only Richard G Banks:

Surname Given Name District Volume Page Transcriber
Births Jun 1884
Banks Richard George Bridport 5a 393 Sally

I wondered if his father was a quarryman at nearby Portland ?.

HOWEVER I deleted my post on seeing:
Surname Given Name Age District Volume Page Transcriber
Deaths Dec 1888
Banks Richard George 4 Bridport 5a 231 angi0

On Ancestry, they have an actual baptism entry at Burton Bradstock, Dorset - 6 July 1884 - of a Richard George BANKS - parents George (occupation: Baker) & Mary.

Some Children:-
Eva M Banks Jul-Aug-Sep 1918 Llanelly Wales
Matilda M Banks Apr-May-Jun 1921 Llanelly Wales
Raymond G Banks Oct-Nov-Dec 1923 Llanelly Glamorganshire

1911 Church Street Gowerton Glam
Richard George Banks 27 Collier Purton Wilts
Lizzie Mary Banks 29 Gowerton Glam
Sidney Sharp 26
John Henry Kent 21

Name: Richard G Banks
Name: Lizzie M Lotwick
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1910
Registration district: Llanelly
Inferred County: Carmarthenshire
Volume Number: 11a
Page Number: 2005

Some suspects born in the Purton area ? ( none appear strong contenders)

Richard Edwards Clappen Oct-Nov-Dec 1883 Cricklade Wiltshire

Richard Giles Apr-May-Jun 1883 Cricklade Wiltshire

Richard Hayward Apr-May-Jun 1884 Cricklade Wiltshire

Richard Price Jul-Aug-Sep 1884 Cricklade Wiltshire

This has some elements of lateral solution - Was mother Matilda a BANKS ? Did father Robert remarry ? Was Robert a BANKS ? Is brother Jesse a BANKS ? etc etc

thanks for looking