In the winter of 1780-1, Frances was painted by George Romney, several years before her marriage to Henry. A renowned society beauty, Frances was made further attractive as a bride due to the substantial wealth of her slaveholding family. Henry’s own political record did not always support interests like those held by his wife's family. He enjoyed a lifelong association with William Wilberforce (1759–1833), a leading figure in the abolitionist movement, and Henry voted on multiple occasions in favour of abolition.
Frances’s dowry was extensive, and it seems likely that her marriage settlement was responsible for renovations to Kingston Lacy, although further research is currently being undertaken to understand this.
The heir
Frances and Henry had six children, one of whom was William John Bankes (1786–1855). William inherited Kingston Lacy in 1834 and was responsible for its ongoing decoration and transformation into an Italianate palace.
Slave-ownership was abolished in Britain's colonies in 1833. In 1836, two years after inheriting Kingston Lacy, William made an unsuccessful compensation claim to the British Government as a Woodley trustee for 172 enslaved people on St Kitts. He had already begun rebuilding Kingston Lacy, an ambitious project that lasted betwen c.1835 and 1855.
Building a collection
Many pieces in Kingston Lacy's collection were acquired by William Bankes.
Born into a life of privilege, William became a notable Egyptologist, accumulating the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in private hands anywhere in Britain.
Between 1815 and 1819 he travelled extensively in Egypt and the Near East, hiring a number of artists to record nearly 100 sites, and amassing art and objects for Kingston Lacy.