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Regions:: Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire
Notice Period:: Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)
Type:: Professional
Fee:: Paid: £70
Category:: History
Updated:: 7^th October 2026
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Land, Ladies and Legacy! Fabulously wealthy and handsome, landowner Walter Bankes of Kingston Lacy was an most eligible bachelor in the late Victorian period. Pressured into marrying in his forties to produce a son and heir. But unknown to all, he already had 2 sons and a daughter by a local hardresser who he maintained for the rest of their lives whilst he died after 7 years of marriage.

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Read modern languages. Taught in France and England. Public servant in education field. In retirement worked as researcher for Dorset History Centre, outreach worker for Russel-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery and guide at Kingston Lacy. Published in 2025 successful biography of John Bankes of Kingston Lacy ‘The Man Who Didn’t Succeed’. Experienced public speaker - 200 talks over last 10 years to a variety of organisations, some in French.

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Walter Ralph Bankes (1853-1904) A Life Unfulfilled

David Beardsley

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