Meet the Bankes family, who despite an explosive start went on to create an extraordinary house brimming with treasures.
‘Brave Dame Mary’
© NTPL / Derrick E Witty / Matthew Antrobus
‘Brave Dame Mary’ Bankes pluckily defended Corfe Castle during two Civil War sieges. The stout lady was the wife of Sir John Bankes, a legal eagle who achieved fame and fortune as Attorney-General to King Charles I. Sir John had bought Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy before Civil War broke out in 1642.
As the wife of a Royalist, Lady Mary was besieged in 1643 and again, after her husband's death, in 1646. The second siege ended in betrayal after 48 days when a traitor inside the walls admitted enemy troops in disguise. Forced to leave but clutching the castle keys, Dame Mary lived on for 17 years.
William John Bankes - the Egyptian explorer
© NTPL / Derrick E Witty
Nineteenth-century gentlemen didn’t come more dashing than William John Bankes. Artistic, adventurous and charming, William John was a passionate man, whose passions included art collecting and architecture. Not surprisingly he was a close friend of Lord Byron, who summed him up as 'the father of all mischief'.
William John’s forages into Europe, Egypt and the Middle East brought back a wealth of antiquities and art treasures to Kingston Lacy. We also have to thank the multi-talented William John for transforming the house - 'I found brick and left it marble'.
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Walter Ralph and Henrietta Bankes - the Edwardian entertainers
© NTPL / Derrick E Witty
Kingston Lacy is scented with elegance from the turn of last century. Its Edwardian occupants were Walter Ralph and Henrietta Bankes. A sophisticated couple, he was broodingly handsome and she a famous beauty. Their marriage lasted just seven years until Walter Ralph's death in 1904.
Henrietta carried on entertaining at Kingston Lacy, playing society hostess to King Edward VII among others. She succeeded her husband by 49 years, and their son Ralph bequeathed Kingston Lacy to the National Trust in 1981.
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