William John Bankes
Encyclopedia
Bankes
The Bankeses were an important aristocratic family in Dorset, England for over 400 years. They owned large portions of land throughout Dorset and made significant contributions to the political history and development of the country.-Buildings:...
family of Dorset and he had Sir Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
recase Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust. From the 17th to the late 20th centuries it was the family seat of the Bankes family, who had previously resided nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War...
in stone as it is today. He travelled extensively to the Near East and Egypt and made an extensive individual collection of Egyptian artifacts. His work on Egypt although not acknowledged until recently is vastly important. He was good friends with Lord Byron, Samuel Rogers
Samuel Rogers
Samuel Rogers was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron...
and Sir Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
. He also served as Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Truro in 1810, for Cambridge University
Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency)
Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950.-Boundaries, Electorate and Election Systems:...
from 1822–26, for Marlborough
Marlborough (UK Parliament constituency)
Marlborough was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.e-1295-1640:-1640-1868:...
from 1829 to 1832 [the UK parliamentary constituency that his maternal grandfather, William Woodley, for whom he was named, had held from 1780 to 1784] and finally for Dorset
Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)
Dorset was a county constituency covering Dorset in southern England, which elected two Members of Parliament , traditionally known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England from 1290 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and to the House of...
from 1832-35.
Education, adventures and friends
William Bankes became interested with exploration and discovery and had an evident passion for ancient Egypt and fine art. His massive portfolio of notes, manuscripts and drawings produced and collected during his travels along the Nile with explorations in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
, and the Near East with Giovanni Finati, whose memoirs he translated, have significant historical value and provide the only historical record of some inscriptions and monuments. He published his Travels in the East
Bankes was an educated and affluent man, though at times somewhat mischievous and boisterous. He was born in 1786 to Frances Woodley (b. 1760 d. 1823) and Henry Bankes, MP, of Kingston Lacy and Corfe Castle in Dorset. Frances was the eldest daughter of William Woodley (MP for Great Bedwin and Marlborough), Governor and Captain-General of the Leeward Islands (1766–1771 and 1791–1793), and his wife Frances Payne of St Kitts. William's aunt was Maria Banks (Woodley) Riddell, a well known poet, who was known to be the chief benefactor of the Scottish poet Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
. William's sister, Anne Francis Bankes married Edward Boscawen, 1st Earl of Falmouth in 1810. In 1841, on the death of her husband, Lady Falmouth returned to reside at Kingston Lacey. It was Lady Falmouth, in the absence of her brother, who was responsible for the ongoing re-decoration of Kingston Lacy which had been commenced by her mother Francis (Woodley) Bankes.
He was the second of five children and the eldest surviving son. Bankes was educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
and continued his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
where he received his BA in 1808 and his MA in 1811. Bankes inherited Stoughton Hall, Flintshire
Flintshire
Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...
from his great uncle, and in 1835 inherited his family’s home, Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust. From the 17th to the late 20th centuries it was the family seat of the Bankes family, who had previously resided nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War...
. The mansion was home to Bankes for many years and still houses his vast collections of art and artefacts.
Lord Byron, a fellow student at Trinity College, was Bankes’ lifelong friend. Bankes sometimes accompanied Byron in his European tours.
Sir Charles Barry
Charles Barry
Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...
, a renowned architect in his day, was also a long-term friend of Bankes. The two men met in 1819 at the temple of Rameses in Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel temples refers to two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt on the western bank of Lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of Aswan...
, where Bankes made drawings and arranged for the transport of the bilingual obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
from Philae
Philae
Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...
that may be seen in the gardens of Kingston Lacy today. Bankes had great respect for Barry’s talents and Barry accomplished much of the building work on the Bankes’ family properties over the years. Barry is well known for his architectural talents which were applied to the Houses of Parliament, St. Peter’s Church in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, the Victoria Tower
Victoria Tower
The Victoria Tower is the square tower at the south-west end of the Palace of Westminster in London, facing south and west onto Black Rod's Garden and Old Palace Yard. At , it is slightly taller than the more famous Clock Tower at the north end of the Palace . It houses the Parliamentary Archives...
and the Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge
Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames between Westminster on the north side and Lambeth on the south side, in London, England....
. His work was inspired by Italian Renaissance type architecture and indeed contributed to the improved design of Bankes
Bankes
The Bankeses were an important aristocratic family in Dorset, England for over 400 years. They owned large portions of land throughout Dorset and made significant contributions to the political history and development of the country.-Buildings:...
home, Kingston Lacy.
While traveling in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
during the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, Bankes served as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington. The Duke later came to Bankes’ rescue when he was on trial for his imprudent lifestyle. The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
also celebrated Bankes’ successes; in fact, he performed the ceremony at Kingston Lacy when the foundation was laid for one of Bankes’ most notable discoveries, the obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
from Philae
Philae
Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...
. The obelisk is now viewable in the National Trust grounds of Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy
Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, now owned by the National Trust. From the 17th to the late 20th centuries it was the family seat of the Bankes family, who had previously resided nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War...
.
Bankes was an adventurous man with many talents. He was an amateur architect, a careful epigrapher and he mastered the art of copying ancient inscriptions. He was very interested in Egypt and, though he was an opponent of Champollion, in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
. Bankes dabbled in architecture and with the assistance of his friend Charles Barry, transformed Kingston Lacy encasing the brick structure with stone. He collected numerous Spanish paintings, by Murillo
Murillo
Murillo may refer to:-Places* Murillo, Ontario a Canadian township named after Bartolomé Esteban Murillo* Murillo, Tolima a Colombian town* Murillo de Gállego a municipality in Zaragoza, Aragon, SpainPeople...
and others, as well as artifacts from Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
which are still housed at the house.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in Mar, 1822.
Scandal
Bankes was eventually exiled from his home in England in 1841 due to homosexual indiscretions which led him to flee seeking refuge after being caught in compromising circumstances with a guardsman in Green ParkGreen Park
-External links:*...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In that day and age, sodomy was considered a grave crime in England and carried with it the death penalty. Even though he was unable to return to Kingston Lacy, he continued to collect from abroad, sending his collections to be displayed in his beloved home. It is believed that he secretly visited Kingston Lacy to admire his home and collections before his death in Venice.