Excerpt from William: An Englishman The next day increased the sense of his new-found importance; his mother had died rich, as he and she understood riches. She

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced

Scholarly, mischievous, and driven by curiosity about the unknown, William John Bankes (1786-1855) was a complex and talented member of England's landed gentry.