Sir Joseph Banks Biography

Dromo's Den

BANKS, Sir Joseph (1743-1820). An English naturalist. He was born in London, Feb. 13, 1743, the only son of William Banks and Sarah, daughter of William Bale, who left him a large fortune. He graduated at Oxford, imbued with a profound interest in natural history, and it was by his exertions that lectures in natural history were first introduced into that university. In 1766, after having been elected a fellow of the Royal Society, he began his travels by a journey to Newfoundland and Labrador to collect plants, whence he brought the first scientific collections from that region. In 1768-71 he accompanied Cook's expedition round the world in a vessel, the Endeavour, equipped by himself, in which he visited successively Rio de Janeiro, Cape Horn, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia the Malay Archipelago, Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena. His friend, the botanist Solander, and two artists accompanied him on this expedition. Botany Bay and the Endeavour River were named at this time, and Cook also gave the name of Banksland to an island south of New Zcaland. During this visit to Tahiti Banks sowed seeds of various Brazilian plants. The death of Dr. Solandcr long delayed the publication of the manuscripts and plates of the botanical results of the expedition, which were preserved in the British Museum, and finally published in 1900. As one result of this expedition the marsupial fauna of Australia first became known to science. In 1772 Banks explored the Hebrides and Iceland and discovered the great geysers of the latter country. He was elected president of the Royal Society in 1778, which office he held for 42 years. While he published little himself, he did much to arouse an interest in natural science in Great Britain and was a patron and protector of scientists in general. His great collections and library, now preserved in the British Museum, were accessible to naturalists and were the basis of many important systematic works by Fabricius, Broussonnet, Gärtner, and Robert Brown. Ile married Dorothea, daughter of William Weston-Hugessen, in 1779, but left no children. He died in Isleworth, Jan. 19, 1820. Consult Duncan, Short Account of the Life of Sir Joseph Banks (Edinburgh, 1821), and Sir Joseph Banks and the Royal Society (London, 1846).

The New International Encyclopaedia Vol II. (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 637-638.