BANKES, Henry (1700-76), of Broad Chalk, Salisbury, Wilts.

Henry Bankes, a practising Tory lawyer, succeeded his brother in the family seat at Corfe Castle in 1741, voting against the Government in all recorded divisions of that Parliament. His only known speeches were against the Hanoverians, December 1743, and against the further employment of British troops in Flanders, January 1744. However, in 1747 he was made K.C. on Lord Gower’s recommendation to PelhamHardwicke to Newcastle, 18 May 1750, Add. 32720, f. 355. and was classed as ‘for’ in the returns for that year. Two years later he resigned his post on the South Wales circuit as deputy to John Trevor on the ground that he had ‘but little prospect of becoming the principal’.Bankes to Hardwicke, 26 Feb. 1749, Add. 35590, f. 257. On 18 May 1750, when he was being considered for the Exchequer, Lord Hardwicke described him to Newcastle as ‘Tory, and acted as such till he was, not very long ago, made K.C.’ In the same connexion, Pelham wrote to Newcastle (25 May) that ‘Mr. Bankes has acted thoroughly with us since he came over, but he is a convert’.Add. 32720, ff. 355, 392. In 1762 he surrendered his seat to the Administration in return for a place. He died 23 Sept. 1776.