Ralph Bankes

Sir Ralph Bankes (1631–1677) was a courtier of the restored Charles II and a knighted member of the Privy Chamber.

He was the builder of Kingston Lacy, the restored seat of the Bankes family, designed by architect Sir Roger Pratt.

Sir Ralph, like his father, trained in the law at Gray's Inn and became close friends with Peter Lely, the painter, and Roger Pratt, the gentleman architect.

Bankes sat in Richard Cromwell's parliament in 1659 for the family seat of Corfe Castle and remained an MP until his death in 1677, actively safeguarding Dorset interests.

Until his death, he was engaged with Roger Pratt in the design of Kingston Lacy, a new house to replace the destroyed Corfe Castle, which his mother had defended heroically during the English Civil War.