William John Bankes (11 December 1786 – 15 April 1855) was an English politician, explorer, Egyptologist and adventurer.

He sat as Tory Member of Parliament (MP) for Truro in 1810, for Cambridge University from 1822 to 1826, for Marlborough (the UK parliamentary constituency that his maternal grandfather, William Woodley, for whom he was named, had held from 1780 to 1784) from 1829 to 1832, and finally for Dorset from 1832 to 1835.

[11] After completing several years of travel, Bankes as an opponent of Catholic emancipation, was urged to stand and subsequently returned as MP for Cambridge University.

[14] Bankes became interested in exploration and discovery, and had an evident passion for ancient Egypt and fine art.

The two men met in 1819 at the temple of Rameses in Abu Simbel, where Bankes made drawings and arranged for the transport of the bilingual obelisk from Philae that may be seen in the gardens of Kingston Lacy today.

His work was inspired by Italian Renaissance architecture and contributed to the improved design of Bankes' home, Kingston Lacy.

Bankes was an amateur architect, a careful epigrapher, and mastered the art of copying ancient inscriptions.

Bankes dabbled in architecture and with the assistance of his friend Charles Barry, transformed Kingston Lacy by encasing the brick structure with stone.

[22] He is believed to have secretly visited Kingston Lacy to admire his home and collections before his death in Venice.

In 2017, the National Trust celebrated Bankes with an exhibition at Kingston Lacy, following the 50th anniversary of the passing of the Sexual Offences Act 1967.