DORSET’S country house Kingston Lacy would not be what it is today if its former owner had not been forced into exile for homosexual activity, the National Trust has suggested.

The charity is featuring wealthy landowner William John Bankes in its Prejudice and Pride campaign, which is exploring LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) history at its properties.

But the decision has irked one local historian, who says it is “nonsense” to apply 21st century standards to events of the 19th century.

William John Bankes, who lived from 1786-1855, was an MP, an Egyptologist and adventurer, who built up a large collection of art and archaeological discoveries.

Bankes was twice accused of sexual relationships with guardsmen. He was acquitted the first time, in 1833, but convicted in 1841 of an indecent act with a guardsman in London’s Green Park – an offence which could incur the death penalty then. He went into exile in France and Italy.

The National Trust website says: “He compulsively collected and commissioned great works of art, marble carvings and furniture and sent them back to Dorset. He included detailed instructions for his siblings to implement his vision for the transformation of Kingston Lacy into the Italianate palace we see today.”

The Bankes family papers have been bequeathed to Dorset History Centre at Dorchester, where they are being catalogued and archived.

Roy Stockdill, who helps edit Dorset Family History Society’s monthly journal and has written about the Bankes collection, disagrees with the National Trust’s decision to highlight Bankes’ sexual life.

“As a historian and genealogist, I take the view that it’s ridiculous. It’s nonsense trying to drag up historical events and analyse them using 21st century values and standards,” he said.

“It does seem to be a bit excessively politically correct to try and put it all right now, 160 years later.”

The National Trust said in a statement: “It is very unlikely that the Kingston Lacy that we know and love today would exist if William John hadn’t been forced into exile in 1841 following his second arrest for an ‘indecent incident’ with a guardsman.

“We want to be open about William John Bankes’ life and enable visitors to understand the connections between him, the collections and presentation of the house and contemporary themes and issues around LGBTQ people and the importance of equal rights.”

The trust’s Prejudice and Pride campaign attracted controversy when volunteers in Norfolk were initially put on behind-the-scenes duties if they did not wear rainbow lanyards to symbolise gay pride. The trust later reversed the decision.