William John Bankes (11 December 1786 – 15 April 1855) was an English politician, explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer. The second, but first surviving, son of

Henry Bankes Henry Bankes (1757–1834) was an English politician and writer. Life Bankes was the only surviving son of Henry Bankes (died 1776), Henry Bankes and Margaret Wynne (1724–1822). Bankes was the great-great-grandson of Sir John Bankes, Chie ...

MP, he was a member of the Bankes family of Dorset and he had Sir

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

recase

Kingston Lacy Kingston Lacy is a country house and estate near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. It was for many years the family seat of the Bankes family who lived nearby at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the English Civil War after its incumbent ...

in stone as it is today. He travelled extensively to the Near East and Egypt and made an extensive individual collection of Egyptian artefacts. His work on Egypt, though not acknowledged until the 21st century, is regarded as important. He was a good friend of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, Samuel Rogers and Sir

. He sat as

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

Member of Parliament (MP) for

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

in 1810, for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1822 to 1826, for

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

(the UK parliamentary constituency that his maternal grandfather, William Woodley, for whom he was named, had held from 1780 to 1784) from 1829 to 1832, and finally for

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

from 1832 to 1835.

Early life and education

William Bankes was born 11 December in 1786 to Frances Woodley (1760–1823) and Henry Bankes, MP, of Kingston Lacy and

Corfe Castle Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the Corfe Castle (village), village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and ...

in Dorset. Frances was the eldest daughter of William Woodley (MP for

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...

and Marlborough), a Caribbean sugar planter, Governor and Captain-General of the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

(1766–1771 and 1791–1793), and his wife Frances Payne of

St Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

. 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 (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

. William's sister Anne Frances Bankes married Edward Boscawen, 1st Earl of Falmouth in 1810. In 1841, on the death of her husband, Lady Falmouth returned to reside at

. It was Lady Falmouth, in the absence of her brother William, who was responsible for continuing the re-decoration of Kingston Lacy which had been commenced by their mother, Frances (Woodley) Bankes, she was also helped by their younger brother George Bankes. He was the second of five children and the eldest surviving son. He was educated first at home with visiting masters and then from age 9 at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. From 1803 he continued his studies at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

where he received his BA in 1808 and his MA in 1811.

, a fellow student at Trinity, became his lifelong friend. Bankes sometimes accompanied

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

in his European tours and was described by Lord Byron as the "father of all mischief".

Parliamentary career

In 1810 he was elected MP for

, having gained the seat through the patronage of Edward Boscawen, 1st Earl of Falmouth, the previous MP who had entered the House of Lords. He was rarely involved in Parliamentary work and waited nearly two years before giving his maiden speech on the subject of delaying the return of rights to Catholics under Catholic emancipation. When parliament dissolved in 1812 he decided to give up his seat and instead travel abroad. After completing several years of travel, Bankes as an opponent of Catholic emancipation, was urged to stand and subsequently returned as MP for

. Again, he spoke in parliament only on a few occasions, mostly on the subject of catholic rights and the erection of new churches. He served as MP for Cambridge until 1826 when he did not win reappointment to the seat.

Adventures and friendships

Bankes became interested in exploration and discovery, and had an evident passion for ancient Egypt and fine art. His extensive portfolio of notes, manuscripts and drawings produced and collected during his travels along the Nile with explorations in Egypt,

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

, 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. Bankes inherited Soughton Hall in

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

, Wales from his great uncle, and in 1835 inherited his family's home,

. The mansion was home to Bankes for many years and still houses his vast collections of art and artefacts. Sir

, 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 is a historic site comprising two massive Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut Egyptian temple, temples in the village of Abu Simbel (village), Abu Simbel (), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is located on t ...

, where Bankes made drawings and arranged for the transport of the bilingual

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

from

Philae The Philae temple complex (; , , Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; , ) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Originally, the temple complex was ...

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's family properties over the years. Barry is known for his work on the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

, St. Peter's Church in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, the Victoria Tower and the

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...

. His work was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture and contributed to the improved design of Bankes' home, Kingston Lacy. While travelling in Spain and Portugal during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

, Bankes served as aide-de-camp to the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

, who later came to Bankes' rescue when Bankes was put on trial and subsequently acquitted in 1833 for partaking in a homosexual act near Westminster Abbey. The Duke also celebrated Bankes' successes; he performed the ceremony at

when the foundation was laid for one of Bankes' most notable discoveries, the Philae obelisk. Bankes was an amateur architect, a careful epigrapher, and 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 Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined Ideogram, ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct char ...

. Bankes dabbled in architecture and with the assistance of his friend Charles Barry, transformed Kingston Lacy by encasing the brick structure with stone. He collected numerous Spanish paintings, by Murillo and others, as well as artefacts from

Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

which are still housed at the house. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in March 1822.

Exile and death

Bankes was exiled from his home in England in 1841 due to homosexual activity, thus becoming an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

. He sought refuge after being caught in compromising circumstances with a guardsman in

Green Park The Green Park, one of the Royal Parks of London, is in the City of Westminster, Central London. Green Park is to the north of the gardens and semi-circular forecourt of Buckingham Palace, across Constitution Hill road. The park is in the m ...

in London. He was arrested and then released on bail, enabling him to flee. At the time, sodomy was a grave crime in England and carried with it the death penalty – the last executions in England for sodomy had occurred only six years earlier, in 1835. To avoid seizure of his house by the crown, he signed Kingston Lacy over to his brother, George Bankes. He settled as an exile in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. Even though he was unable to return to

, he continued to collect from abroad, sending his collections to be displayed in his beloved home. One of his commissions for Kingston Lacy in 1853 was a set of 16 bronze tortoises from the sculptor Carlo Marochetti as supporters for four decorative marble urns; their design was based on one of Bankes' pet tortoises. Four were stolen in 1992, but returned to the house in 2021. He is believed to have secretly visited Kingston Lacy to admire his home and collections before his death in Venice. He was buried in the family vault in

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

. In 2017, the National Trust celebrated Bankes with an exhibition at Kingston Lacy, following the 50th anniversary of the passing of the

Sexual Offences Act 1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 (c. 60) is an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained the age of 21. ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* R.J. Demarée with contributions by B. Leach and P.Usick. ''The Bankes Late Ramesside Papyri'' 2006. London: British Museum Press. * Patricia Usick. ''The Adventures in Egypt and Nubia: The Travels of William John Bankes (1786–1855)''. 2002. London: British Museum Press. * Anne Sebba. ''The Exiled Collector: William Bankes and the Making of an English Country House'' (2004) * Anthony Mitchell. ''Kingston Lacy'' (National Trust Guidebooks), 1994 * Bankes of Kingston Lacy archive (ref: D/BKL), including the travel papers and correspondence of William John Bankes, c1800-1818, held at the Dorset History Centre * Dorothy U. Seyler. The Obelisk and the Englishman: The Pioneering Discoveries of Egyptologist William Bankes. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2015. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bankes, William John William John English explorers 1786 births 1855 deaths People from Purbeck District English LGBTQ politicians Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Truro Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Cambridge Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Wiltshire Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dorset UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1832–1835 Fellows of the Royal Society English outlaws English expatriates in Italy LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom 18th-century English LGBTQ people 19th-century English LGBTQ people Abu Simbel Tory MPs (pre-1834)