[2] On his father's death in 1776, he inherited the family estate at Kingston Lacy, including a lucrative lead mine in Cumberland.
He demolished the hamlet of Kingston which was situated adjacent to the 16th-century Keeper's Lodge, diverted the Blandford road (now the B3082) and converted former agricultural land to parkland.
The revised layout included the creation of a new entrance on the east side of the building, a new dining room and a large ballroom.
She wrote to her mother-in-law that: "I was perfectly satisfied from beginning to end, you know I am very difficult, but every Creature appeared in high good humour.
Bankes died at Tregothnan, Cornwall, home of his eldest daughter on 17 December 1834, and was buried at Wimborne Minster.