Joseph Banks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Joseph Banks, Bt
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Joseph Banks, as painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773.
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| Born | 13 February 1743 30 Argyll Street, London
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| Died | 19 June 1820 (aged 75) London, England
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| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Known for | Endeavour voyage and exploration of Botany Bay |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Influences | Israel Lyons |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Banks |
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet GCB PRS (13 February 1743 – 19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. Banks was President of the Royal Society 1778–1820; baronet 1781; Privy Counsellor 1797. His collections were given to the British Museum.
Banks took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage from 1768 to 1771. He inherited a large fortune, and was able to hire his own team to help collect, package and transport his finds. Banks discovered and collected Eucalyptus, Acacia, Mimosa, and Banksia. About 80 species of plants are named after Banks.
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Early life
Banks was born in Argyll Street, Soho, the son of William Banks, a rich Lincolnshire country squire and member of the House of Commons, and his wife Sarah, daughter of William Bate. He was baptised at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 20 February 1743, Old Style. He had a younger sister, Sarah Sophia Banks, born in 1744.
Banks was educated at Harrow School, Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford.
Exploration
Newfoundland and Labrador
In 1766 Banks was elected to the Royal Society, and in the same year he accompanied Phipps to Newfoundland and Labrador to study their natural history. He made his name by publishing the first Linnean descriptions of the plants and animals of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Endeavour voyage
Banks was promptly appointed to a joint Royal Navy/Royal Society scientific expedition to the south Pacific Ocean on HMS Endeavour, 1768–1771. This was the first of James Cook's voyages of discovery in that region. Banks joined the ship with a staff of eight: Daniel Solander and H.D. Spöring, naturalists; Alexander Buchan and Sydney Parkinson, artists; James Roberts and Peter Briscoe, tenants from Revesby; Thomas Richmond and George Dorlton (Dollin), negro servants. Only four of this party survived the voyage, Banks himself, Solander and the two Revesby men.
This voyage went first to Brazil, where Banks made the first scientific description of a now common garden plant, Bougainvillea (named after Cook's French counterpart, Louis Antoine de Bougainville), and to other parts of South America.
The voyage then went to Tahiti (where the transit of Venus was observed, the purpose of the mission), to New Zealand and to the east coast of Australia, where Cook mapped the coastline and made landfall at Botany Bay and at Endeavour River (near modern Cooktown) in Queensland, where they spent seven weeks ashore while the ship was repaired after damage on the Great Barrier Reef.
While they were in Australia Banks, Solander and Spöring made the first collection of Australian plants, describing many that were new to science. Almost 800 specimens were illustrated by the artist Sydney Parkinson and appear in Banks' Florilegium, finally published in 35 volumes between 1980 and 1990. Banks arrived back in England on 12 July 1771 and immediately became famous.
Banks in popular culture
There are many things in Australia named after Banks. These include the Division of Banks, a Federal Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives in the state of New South Wales. The species Banksia is named after him.
An image of Banks was featured on the paper $5 Australian banknote from its introduction in 1967 before it was replaced by the later polymer currency.
In 1986, Banks was honoured by his portrait being depicted on a postage stamp issued by Australia Post.
The Sir Joseph Banks Centre is located in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, housed in a Grade II listed building, which was recently restored by the Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire to celebrate Banks' life. Horncastle is located a few miles from Banks' Revesby estate and the naturalist was the town's lord of the manor. The centre is located on Bridge Street. It boasts research facilities, historic links to Australia, and a garden in which rare plants can be viewed and purchased.
Banks's life and influence were explored in a documentary five-part television series The Lost World of Joseph Banks in 2016.
Images for kids
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Banks as painted by Benjamin West in 1773
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Banks' house in Isleworth
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Sir Joseph Banks (center), together with Omai (left) and Daniel Solander, painted by William Parry, circa 1775–76
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In The great South Sea Caterpillar, transform'd into a Bath Butterfly (1795), James Gillray caricatured Banks's investiture with the Order of the Bath as a result of his expedition.
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Portrait of Banks by Thomas Phillips (1810) National Portrait Gallery, London
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This 1812 print depicts Banks as president of the Royal Society, wearing the insignia of the Order of the Bath.
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Joseph Banks, detail of a painting by William Parry, 1775
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Sir Joseph Banks by Anne Seymour Damer, British Library
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Banks' house was used for the offices of the Zoological Society of London.
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See also
In Spanish: Joseph Banks para niños
