So far the main Families identified  using the Winks Name are as follows

I owe a debt of gratitude to various researchers who have volunteered information on the various Families,  please see the Credits shown below.
I accept all responsibility for any errors and would strongly recommend that you check the data exhaustively before reuse.

 

England	Scotland	Wales	Australia / New Zealand
In 1555 the name WYNKS  and WYNKES is recorded in the Registers of Rotherham Parish Church, the first  recorded spelling as WINKS was in 1579, this family is thought to have moved to Rotherham from the Village of Thorpe Salvin. Around 1570 a family was living in Harthill near Rotherham, although recorded in Parish Records as WILKS they had apparently been known as WINKS "for Centuries" and are recorded as WINKS in the Hearth Tax returns in the C17th. it is thought that this is a branch of the Thorpe Savin family It appears reasonable to believe that these Families are the source for most of the Families found in the local area, but the families were quite mobile between the villages and also tended to use "family Churches" for Christenings rather than the Church where they were Farming, this together with the variations in spellings makes it extremely difficult to trace the Families so I will jump forward to the various strands that have been identified.  However I would point out that although the spelling varies the use of an S in the name is constant. and therefore with a few exceptions I have concentrated on the "plural" spelling, if you are looking for families using WINK or WENK, you are probably in the wrong place! (but read on anyway)   The Babworth WINKS Babworth is close to Retford and is famed as the source of many of the dissenters that became the Pilgrim Fathers, in 1586 the new Vicar called Richard CLYFTON arrived who had been influenced by John KNOX, by 1605 CLYFTON was barred from the living and joined the group at Scrooby who sailed to Holland before eventually leaving for the New World. This raises the interesting possibility that some WINKS went to Holland and became the WINK Family in Leyden, Holland! The earliest WINKS entry in the Parish Register is for a George WINKS born in 1626, but this family appears to have died out in 1691 but are linked to CAMMAMILE family of North Leverton. By the 1851 census, four WINKS families originating from Carlton in Lindrick were working at Morton Grange in Babworth. At least one of the latter family's sons migrated to Virginia, USA   The Bole WINKS Bole is a small rural Community near the banks of the River Trent. The Winks family known as the Bole family have been traced back to the neighbouring Village of North Leverton before 1630 and may well be linked to the early Babworth Family. This family are the ancestors of Pete SMEE and also of Joseph Foulks WINKS the famed Baptist Preacher and Printer who baptized Thomas COOK of Cook's travels. Descendants of this family are now scattered across the Globe with groups in Australia, New Zealand and the USA For other families associated with Bole, check out our sister Site The Bole Project The Carlton in Lindrick WINKS This family was well researched by Becky Leach DOZIER of Augusta, Georgia, USA. Becky traced the family back through Virginia to an emigration in 1867 from Babworth and hence all the way back to Carlton c1700. The Carlton Parish registers actually show WINKS Marriages and Christenings back to 1663. Jo JORDAN is confident this family descended from the Harthill/Thorpe Salvin families via Carlton in Lindrick   The Hodsock WINKS I will deal with this family separately as although the Carlton Family descended from them this was a late discovery. this family stretches back to about 1620 and is responsible for many families outside the immediate area including Australia, the US and also the Winks families around Keelby, Lincolnshire. 1,018 Descendants have been identified of William WINKS and Ann who married c1650 at Hodsock.	A Family based around Banff used the name WINK until the middle of the 1700's several strands adopted the WINKS Name and at least 3 Brothers/Cousins migrated to New Zealand, some others drifted south to the English Shipyards in Northumberland during the 19th Century	Some descendants of Joseph Foulks WINKS and his son, the Reverend William Edward WINKS, have adopted the Surname fFoulkes-Winks  The Reverend relocated his family to the Cardiff area in the late 19th Century.   A family in the USA claim descendancy from a George WINKS born about 1700 in Wales. Documentary evidence of this would be very welcome	"work in progress" John WINKS was born in Carlton in Lindrick in 1800, he was convicted twice of Larceny (1826 and 1828), on the second occasion he was sentenced to Transportation for Life and arrived in Tasmania on the Manlius, by 1835 had become a Police Constable. In 1845 John applied for permission to marry another Convict, Christian STEVENSON, and although Permission was granted, the marriage does not appear to have taken place and it is possible John died around this time. Christian married another Convict, Philip ABLETT in 1846 at Hobart John WINKS was born in in Cowbit, Lincolnshire in 1807, he was convicted at the Old Bailey in 1832 for theft of a Fowl and was sentenced to being transported for 7 years. He arrived in Hobart, Tasmania  on the Surrey. In 1846 John married another Convict, Margaret FAGAN, He is thought to have died in Victoria in 1871 but this requires Confirmation. There are no known descendants

The Winks Families Research Roll of Honour

Many thanks to the following for their invaluable Contributions to this research -
Doug Brunton, Liz Carmichael, Shirley Compton, Peg Compton, Lewis Eby (RIP),  Piers Forrest,  Nikki Graff, Pippa Hoath, Jo Jordan, Becky Leach, Dale Majurey, Ann Martyr, Thelma Paul, Steven Satterfield, Geoff Smith,  Peter Walker, Peter Ward, Adrian Winks, Kate Winks, Lorraine Winks, Pauline Winks, Jude Woollams

Part of Pete Smee's Genealogical Research http://FindOur.Name