History Explorer: homosexuality
Charlotte Hodgman and Matt Cook explore Kingston Lacy, a magnificent Italian-style palazzo in Dorset whose wealthy owner was forced into exile for his homosexuality
Set in 8,500 acres of land, the Kingston Lacy estate remains an imposing statement of wealth and grandeur in the Dorset countryside. Over the course of more than 350 years, seven generations of the Bankes family left their mark on the huge estate, transforming it from the two-storey red brick country house of the mid-17th century to the enormous Italian palazzo-style building we see today. Stepping into the cool stone hall, Italian and classical influences are everywhere – from red granite tables boasting carved shells, lizards and fruits, to huge marble columns in a Greek style.
Kingston Lacy owes its Italian grandeur to one owner in particular, William John Bankes, who inherited the house in 1834. The house became Bankes’ obsession and he soon set about remodelling it, employing the services of fashionable architect Charles Barry, who clad the building’s exterior in Chilmark stone.
Bankes was fascinatedfa by the culture and history of Italy and ancient Greece, and toook much of his architectural annd decorative inspiration for KingstonK Lacy from both, including the grand marble staircase, based on one he had seen at the Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome. In 1812, Bankes set off on a grand tour of Europe and north Africa. This took him to Alexandria where he developed a deep love for ancient Egyptian history. Throughout his travels, Bankes sent objects and artwork back to Kingston Lacy, including a huge granite obelisk discovered by Bankes himself on an island in the Nile in 1815. The obelisk, which features the names of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, still stands on the southern lawn.
Behind closed doors
To the outside world, Bankes was the quintessential English gentleman: educated at Westminster and then moving on to Cambridge University where he made several high-ranking friends, including Lord Byron. A Tory MP for many years, he was celebrated in society as a great explorer and collector. But behind his upstanding public persona, Bankes was living a secret life, one which saw him having sex wi ith other men. Such behaviour could be b punished with the pillory, imprisonment or (until 1861, if sodomy could be proven) death . “When studyi ng queer history, it’s important to be ear in mind that in the 18th and 19th centu uries – when Bankes was alive – sexu al relationships between men wer ren’t understood in the same wway as they are now. There was mmore of a tendency to think