Ralph Bankes (landowner)

Bankes was born to Walter Ralph Bankes, a member of the Bankes family, and Henriette Jenny Fraser in 1902. He was the 7-times-great-grandson of Sir John Bankes and the great-great-grandson of Henry Bankes. He was sent to board at Eton College in Eton, Berkshire and Magdalen College, Oxford.[1] At Eton, Bankes befriended Robert Strickland-Constable, (later Sir Robert Frederick Strickland-Constable, 11th Bt.), the brother of his future wife, Hilary Margaret Strickland-Constable.[2]

Bankes inherited Kingston Lacy from his father in 1904.[1] He was the last private owner of Corfe Castle and Kingston Lacy and the largest private landowner in Dorset.[3] Bankes donated his estates and his art and antiques collection to the National Trust.[4] His donation is the single largest donation in the organisation's history.[5]

He held the office of High Sheriff of Dorset in 1939 and was a Justice of the Peace (J.P.) from 1936.

In 1935, Bankes married Hilary Margaret (née Strickland-Constable), daughter of Lt.-Col. Frederick Charles Strickland-Constable and Margaret Elizabeth Pakenham.[6] Hilary Margaret was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford and Sir George Strickland, 7th Baronet.

Bankes and Hilary Margaret Bankes had three children:

• Ralph M. Bankes (b. 1937)
• John Ralph Bankes (1937), educated at Eton and Oxford, an officer in the Coldstream Guards.
• Mary Bankes (1940)