Henry Bankes (1698/1700 – 23 September 1776) was a British lawyer and politician, who served as Member of Parliament for Corfe Castle.

Life

Bankes was the son of John Bankes and his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Henry Parker . He was born in 1698 or 1700 (baptised 2 November 1700). He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

( B.A. 1724, M.A. 1728, Fellow 1723–29). He was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1720, and

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1726. Bankes was King's Counsel to the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of ...

1738–61, and deputy chief justice of the South Wales circuit 1745–49. Corfe Castle was a family seat, which Bankes' grandfather, father, and brother John Bankes had represented. At the

1741 general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

, John stood aside for Henry, who was elected unopposed. He was re-elected unopposed in

1747 Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coul ...

1754 Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Pla ...

and

1761 Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, and restore the Mughal Empire to Shah Alam II. * January 16 – Siege of Pondi ...

. Henry was initially a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

opponent of the government, consistently voting against the government in his first parliament. However, he was made

King's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister or ...

in 1747 on the recommendation of Lord Gower, another ex-Tory convert to the government, and thereafter acted with the government. Bankes stood down from parliament in 1762, to accept appointment as a Commissioner of

HM Customs HM Customs (His or Her Majesty's Customs) was the national Customs service of England (and then of Great Britain from 1707, the United Kingdom from 1801) until a merger with the Department of Excise in 1909. The phrase 'HM Customs', in use si ...

Family

Bankes married firstly, on 30 December 1738, Eleanor Symonds, daughter of Richard Symonds of London. They had no children. Bankes married secondly, on 11 June 1753, Margaret Wynne, daughter of John Wynne, Bishop of Bath and Wells. They had three children: * John Bankes (1756–1766) *

Henry Bankes Henry Bankes (1757–1834) was an English politician and author. Life Bankes was the only surviving son of Henry Bankes and the great-grandson of Sir John Bankes, chief justice of the common pleas in the time of Charles I. Bankes was educated ...

(1757–1834) * Anne Bankes (1759–1778)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bankes, Henry 1776 deaths Bankes family People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768