William John Bankes

William John Bankes, portrait 1812 - George Sandars

William John Bankes (born December 11, 1786 in Kingston Lacy , Dorset , † April 15, 1855 in Venice ) was an English explorer, collector and Egyptologist .

Life

Kingston Lacy Mansion with the Obelisk

William John Bankes comes from the English aristocratic Bankes family . He was the second oldest child of Henry Bankes and Frances Woodley and had five other siblings. Since his eldest brother Henry died in 1806, he became the main heir. William John Bankes attended Westminster School in London , studied at Trinity College , Cambridge and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1808 and a Master of Arts in 1811 . He was a member of the British House of Commons for many years (1810–1812 for Truro, 1821–1825 for Cambridge University, 1829–1831 for Marlborough, 1833–1835 for Dorset).

From 1815 to 1819 he traveled extensively in the Middle East and visited Egypt, Nubia and Sudan. He brought the obelisk found in Philae in 1815 to England and had it set up in the park of his mansion in Kingston Lacy. He also amassed a considerable collection of Egyptian antiquities that are still in Kingston Lacy today.

Publications

Geometrical elevation of an Obelisk ... from the Island of Philae. London 1821

literature

Dictionary of National Biography Vol. 3, 1885, p. 124 ( full text ).
Patricia Usick: Adventures in Egypt and Nubia: the travels of William John Bankes (1786–1855). British Museum Press, London 2002, ISBN 0-7141-1803-6 .
Robert Johannes Demarée: The Bankes Late Ramesside Papyri. British Museum Press, London 2006, ISBN 0-86159-155-0 .
Anne Sebba: The Exiled Collector. William Bankes and the Making of an English Country House. John Murray, London 2004, ISBN 0-7195-6571-5 .
Morris L. Bierbrier: Who was who in Egyptology . 4th revised edition. Egypt Exploration Society, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-85698-207-1 , pp. 38-39

Web links

William John Bankes. On: travellersinegypt.org ( Memento of September 27, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
Family tree of William John Bankes. At: wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com ; last accessed May 2, 2014.

Individual evidence

↑ John Burke: A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank; but univested with heritable honors. Volume 3, London 1836 ( online ).
↑ Bankes, William John . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 1 : Abbey – Challis . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1940, pp. 141 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).

personal data
SURNAME	Bankes, William John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English explorer, collector, Egyptologist and politician, member of the House of Commons
DATE OF BIRTH	December 11, 1786
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kingston Lacy , Dorset , England
DATE OF DEATH	April 15, 1855
Place of death	Venice , Italy

[1] John Burke: A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, enjoying territorial possessions or high official rank; but univested with heritable honors. Volume 3, London 1836 ( online ).

[2] Bankes, William John . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 1 : Abbey – Challis . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1940, pp. 141 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).