John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord Avebury
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Lord Avebury in middle age |
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| Chairman of the London County Council | |
| In office 1892–1892 |
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| Preceded by | The Earl of Rosebery |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Rosebery |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 April 1834 London England |
| Died | 28 May 1913 (aged 79) Broadstairs, Kent, England |
| Known for | Bank holidays & the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 |
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, PC, DL, FRS (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath.
Lubbock was a banker and worked with his family’s company, but also made significant contributions in archaeology, ethnography, and several branches of biology. He coined the terms "Palaeolithic" and "Neolithic" to denote the Old and New Stone Ages, respectively. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was also influential in nineteenth-century debates concerning evolutionary theory. He introduced the first law on the protection of the UK's archaeological and architectural heritage.
Contents
Early life
John Lubbock the son of Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet, a London banker, and was brought up in the family home of High Elms Estate, near Downe in Kent. During 1842 his father brought home a "great piece of news": the young Lubbock said later that he initially thought that the news might be of a new pony, and was disappointed to learn it was only that Charles Darwin was moving to Down House in the village. The youth was soon a frequent visitor to Down House, and became the closest of Darwin’s younger friends. Their relationship stimulated young Lubbock’s passion for science and evolutionary theory.
In 1845, Lubbock began studies at Eton College, and after graduation was employed by his father's bank (which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co), of which he became a partner at the age of twenty-two. In 1865 he succeeded to the baronetcy.
Business and politics
In 1870, 1874, and 1880 he was elected to Parliament, where he promoted a number of laws. Lubbock was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers in 1879; in 1881 he was president of the British Association, and from 1881 to 1886 president of the Linnean Society of London. In March 1883 he founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, which in 1986 became the Bankers Benevolent Fund – a charity for bank employees, past and present and their dependants. In January 1884 he founded the Proportional Representation Society, later to become the Electoral Reform Society.
Lubbock received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Dublin and Würzburg; and in 1878 was appointed a trustee of the British Museum. From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce; from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council.
In February 1890 he was appointed a Privy Councillor, and was chairman of the committee of design on the new coinage in 1891. In January 1900 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Avebury, his title commemorating the largest Neolithic site in Europe.
Lubbock in biology and archaeology
In 1865 Lubbock published what was possibly the most influential archaeological text book of the 19th Century, Pre-historic times, as illustrated by ancient remains, and the manners and customs of modern savages. He invented the terms Palaeolithic and Neolithic to denote the Old and New Stone Ages respectively, but more notable was his introduction of a Darwinian view of human nature.
He had extensive correspondence with Charles Darwin, who lived nearby in Down House. Lubbock stayed in Downe except for a brief period from 1861–65, when he lived in Chislehurst. Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform, and members of the Spelling reform Association, precursor to the Simplified Spelling Society.
Darwin rented land, originally from Lubbock’s father, for the Sandwalk wood where he performed his daily exercise, and in 1874 agreed with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin’s property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey, organising a letter to the dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearers.
In 1893 Lubbock was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.
Family
Lubbock was one of eight brothers and three sisters. Lubbock's first wife was Ellen Frances Horden, who died in 1879. Five years later he married Alice Lane Fox, the daughter of Augustus Pitt Rivers. He rebuilt Kingsgate Castle, near Broadstairs in Kent, as his family home, where he died in 1913.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, John.
Images for kids
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Lubbock portrayed in Strand Magazine, 1891
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Lord Avebury speaking during the presentation of the first replica of Diplodocus carnegii to the trustees of the British Museum of Natural History, 12 May 1905
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Battersea Library plaque
See also
In Spanish: John Lubbock para niños
