22 Daily Echo, Bankes for the memory · 22 Daily Echo, MONDAY MAY 5, 2008...

bournemouthecho.co.uk/news22 Daily Echo, MONDAY MAY 5, 2008

ASEX scandal thatrocked the Dorset gen-try and shockedParliament; cloak and

dagger dealings with the lawand the locals; a link to smugg-lers and priceless works of art….the life and times of a disgracedDorset landowner could provideHollywood with its latest cos-tume drama.

William John Bankes, thenoted explorer and pioneerEgyptologist, who is widelycredited with rebuilding theKingston Lacy estate as it istoday, fled the country in shamein 1841 having been caught incompromising circumstanceswith a young soldier inLondon’s Green Park.

Sodomy was a capital crime inthose days and, on legal advice,Bankes decamped to Veniceafter signing over his interest inKingston Lacy to his brothersGeorge and Edward. He wasdeclared a criminal outlaw andremained in exile until hisdeath in 1855.

Or did he?By arrangement with Dorset’s

senior legal officials, politiciansand local workers, it seemsWilliam made at least one clan-destine trip back to his belovedKingston Lacy to check on theprogress of the work he wasorchestrating from afar.

His biographer, Anne Sebba,has sold the film rights to herhighly-praised account ofWilliam’s colourful life, TheExiled Collector (John Murray,£8.99), and is hoping a goodscript will entice the industrybig boys to the story.

“You can just imagine it,these magnificent settings –Kingston Lacy and Venice,maybe with someone like JudeLaw in the lead role,” she says.

“It’s very rare you get periodstories where the exact loca-tions still exist – it’s not likeyou have to recreate a dingyLiverpool street or make a vil-lage as in Cranford.”

Anne met film producerRichard Foord after a lectureshe gave at Kingston Lacy about18 months ago.

“I was being asked questionsby a man in the audience whowas clearly very knowledgeableand enthused by the subject. Hetold me afterwards that he was aproducer and very interested inmaking a film about WilliamJohn Bankes.

“Often film rights are boughtand nothing happens, but I justhave a funny feeling that thisone might take off. Richard hassaid that what they really lovein Hollywood is great storiesabout plucky little Brits, that’swhy Calendar Girls and filmslike that do so well.”

A friend of Lord Byron and anMP from the age of 24, WilliamJohn Bankes became first inline to inherit Kingston Lacyfrom his father Henry when hisolder brother, also called Henry,was drowned off the coast ofTunis in 1806.

Widely travelled, as a youngman William amassed a sizeablecollection of antiquities, some ofwhich he sold to the BritishMuseum, and earned a fine rep-utation as a skilled translator ofancient texts.

But his private life scandalisedhigh society.

He was arrested, tried andacquitted for sexual indecencywith a young ColdstreamGuardsman in 1833. His father –who testified at his trial –became ill and died little morethan a year later. Soon afterWilliam appointed the eminent

archi-tectCharlesBarry, whowas alsorebuilding theHouses of Parliamentwhich had been destroyed byfire in 1834, to work with him onrenovating Kingston Lacy.

“So many people have said tome that it’s a poignant story, butI’ve always seen it as a triumphant story born of some-thing quite sad,” says Anne.

“Living on his wits in Venicewith not much money he cameas close as an 18th century gen-tleman could do to having aproper job. I really liked him inthat he survived in adversity.”

The intrigue continuedthroughout William’s life – andbeyond.

Anne believes he made at leastone journey back to KingstonLacy in the spring or summer of1854, the year before he died.She was told the story of how heslipped into the country throughPoole after landing at Studlandby the Castleman family ofChettle House, adjacent to theBankes estate. The Castlemansare descendants of celebratedDorset smuggler Isaac Gulliverand it seems fairly certain thatGulliver and others were activeon the Dorset estates.

“Teddy Castleman told me

theywere

broughtup with

oral history,stories handed

down the genera-tions, rather than writ-

ten down. It makes sense thatthere was smuggling on theKingston Lacy estate as it suitedthe government at the time toturn a blind eye because theywanted the Napoleonic blockadebroken.

“William would have knownhow the local customs workedas he always sent his artefactsback through Poole, so thefamiles simply arranged his safepassage and made sure he couldavoid arrest. I’m sure it hap-pened at least once, if not twice.

“Can you imagine the strengthof will it took to do that?William lived in Venice butcouldn’t swim, so he had to con-quer that fear. Then landing inchoppy waters off England, wor-rying about whether he’d bearrested if discovered – there’sso much intrigue and mysteryin this story.”

The scheming continued evenafter William’s death.

Although branded an outlaw,his body was brought back andinterred in the family tomb inWimborne Minster. The funeralwas held in total secrecy onJune 13, 1855 – two months after

his death in Venice.Bankes family lore has it that

a private Act of Parliament wasrequired for his remains to bebrought, but there is no suchAct.

It seems William’s youngerbrother Edward, who wasCanon of Bristol Cathedral andclose to Queen Victoria, usedhis considerable influence.

It’s now 25 years since RalphBankes bequeathed the entireBankes family estate to theNational Trust and Annebelieves William would havebeen pleased with how it hasturned out.

“Well, I think he would havepreferred it to be preserved forthe family, but having it savedfor the nation would have suitedhim I’m sure. It’s certainly bet-ter than seeing the collectionsplit up and sold off andKingston Lacy is to a greatextent a memorial to his spiritand vision.”

She also sees some similaritiesbetween William and the lastBankes – Ralph’s reclusive andtroubled son John, who died ofliver cancer in 1996 and isburied at St Nicholas Church,Studland.

“They were both exiles ineffect and misunderstood bytheir family. I spoke with manyof John’s friends and – eventhough it may have been for thebest – he felt it was cruel that hecouldn’t take up his birthright.John had a real affinity with theplace and such enthusiasm forit, as did William of course, butwasn’t able to live there.”

● Anne’s new book, JennieChurchill: Winston’s AmericanMother is published by JohnMurray and available now.Anne will be giving a lunchtimetalk at Kingston Lacy as part ofNational Archaeology Week onJuly 11.

PIONEER: William John Bankes(1786-1855) by Sir GeorgeHayter (1792-1871). Collectorand traveller, rebuilt KingstonLacy (above) to Sir CharlesBarry's designs 1835-40.©NTPL/Angelo Hornak

Bankesfor thememoryNick Churchill looks atan extraordinary local life

AUTHOR: Anne Sebba