Banks, Sir Joseph (1743-1820)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0068 JBK
Held at	: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.kew.org/learn/library-art-archives ›
Full title	: Banks, Sir Joseph (1743-1820)
Date(s)	: 1764-1975
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 3 series, 21 files
Name of creator(s)	: Banks | Sir | Joseph | 1743-1820 | 1st Baronet | naturalist and patron of science

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born in London on 13 February 1743, the only son of a wealthy land-owning family, Joseph Banks received his earliest education at home under private tuition. At age nine he attended Harrow School and was then enrolled at Eton School which he attended from the age of 13 until 18. In 1760 he entered Christ Church at Oxford University as a gentlemen commoner. His passion for botany and dedication to Linnean precepts had developed to such an extent that, unable to study botany at Oxford, Banks employed a private tutor, Isaac Lyons, from Cambridge. As was usual for members of his social class, Banks did not take out a degree. He came down from Oxford in 1763 an independently wealthy man following the death of his father in 1761.

As an independent naturalist, Banks participated in a voyage to Newfoundland and Labrador in 1767. Although he did not publish an account of this expedition, he allowed others full use of his collection. In the same year he was elected a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquities. In 1778 he was elected President of the Royal Society, a position he held with varying degrees of support, until his death in 1820. He remains the longest serving President in the history of the Royal Society, founded almost 350 years ago.

He successfully lobbied the Royal Society to be included on what was to be James Cook's first great voyage of discovery, on board the ENDEAVOUR (1768-1771). This voyage marked the beginning of Banks' lifelong friendship and collaboration with the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander, one of Linnaeus' most esteemed pupils, and the beginning of Banks' lifelong advocacy of British settlement in New South Wales. The ENDEAVOUR had sailed into Botany Bay in April 1770 and proceeded up the east coast and through Torres Strait, charting the east coast of Australia in the process.

Frustrated in his attempt at a second voyage to the South Seas, again with Cook, Banks set off in July 1772 for Iceland, his only other venture outside Europe. From this time, Banks was actively involved in almost every aspect of Pacific exploration and early Australian colonial life. He was interested and involved in Cook's later voyages and actively supported the proposal of Botany Bay as a site for British settlement. He proposed William Bligh to command two voyages for the transportation of breadfruit and other plants, including the ill-fated voyage on the Bounty which ended in mutiny in April 1789. Practically anyone who wanted to travel to New South Wales, in almost any capacity, consulted Sir Joseph Banks and he remained the one constant figure throughout the first 30 years of white settlement in Australia, through changes of ministers, government and policy.

King George III had appointed Banks as adviser to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew some time after his return from the Pacific. His informal role as governmental adviser on a range of issues was recognised in 1797 with his appointment to the Privy Council. He served as a member of the committees on trade and on coin. In his capacity as President of the Royal Society he was also involved in the activities of the Board of Longitude and the Greenwich Royal Observatory, the Board of Agriculture (founded in 1793) and the African Association (founded in 1788). He was also a Trustee of the British Museum.

In addition to the Banks family estates in Lincolnshire, Banks acquired his main London residence at 32 Soho Square in 1776. It was established as his London home and scientific base. His natural history collections were housed there and made freely available to bona fide scientists and researchers. Until his death, this house was a centre for the wider scientific community. He did not discriminate between British and foreign scientists. He was, in fact, influential in maintaining scientific relations with France, for example, during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1819 he was appointed Chairman to two committees established by the House of Commons, one to enquire into prevention of banknote forgery, the other to consider systems of weights and measures.

Banks was created a baronet in 1781 and invested Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1795. In March 1779, he had married Dorothea Hugessen (1758-1828), daughter and heiress of William Western Hugessen. They had no children. Sir Joseph Banks died on 19 June 1820.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The papers of Sir Joseph Banks comprises 3 series. The first series (JBK/1) contains Banks' correspondence with related catalogues and indexes. The second series (JBK/2) contains journals, both manuscript and published. The third series (JBK/3) contains other documents relating to Joseph Banks.

JBK/1 : Correspondence : 1764-1975: This series comprises the main collection of letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks, as well as correspondence and other papers concerning the production of flax and hemp. It also contains indexes to the main collection and to letters held at Kent Archives Office; JBK/1/1: Banks Correspondence and Banksiana - Index: 1906: This bound volume contains a manuscript index to the correspondence in JBK/1/2 - JBK/1/8 and was compiled by Benjamin Daydon Jackson in 1906; JBK/1/2: Banks' Letters Vol. 1 : 1760s-1790s; This bound volume contains Vol. 1, ff. 1-109 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/3: Banks' Letters Vol. 1 : 1780s; This bound volume contains Vol. 1, ff. 110-226 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/4: Banks' Letters Vol. 1 : 1780s; This bound volume contains Vol. 1, ff. 227-365 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/5: Banks' Letters Vol. 2 : 1790s: This bound volume contains Vol. 2, ff. 1-116 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/6: Banks' Letters Vol. 2 : 1790s-1800s: This bound volume contains Vol. 2, ff. 117-235 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/7: Banks' Letters Vol. 2 : 1800s-1820s: This bound volume contains Vol. 2, ff. 236-361 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1; JBK/1/8: Banks' Letters Vol. 3 : 1780s-1790s: This bound volume contains Vol. 3, ff. 1-46 of the main bound indexed collection of original letters, primarily addressed to Joseph Banks. For the index see JBK/1/1.

JBK/1/9: Six letters from Banks : c 1 Sep 1783 - 9 Jul 1813: contains six items altogether: two original letters, two manuscript extracts and two typed copies of letters from Banks; JBK/1/9/1: This letter, dated 1 Sep 1783 is addressed to Sir Joseph Manby and concerns Banks' recommendation to him of two visitors from Denmark; JBK/1/9/2: This letter, dated 9 Jul 1806, is addressed to John Symmons. It concerns a property transaction and voting procedures at a club to which they belonged; JBK/1/9/3: This is an extract from a letter dated 7 Oct 1811 and is addressed to Sir Everard Home. It concerns the destruction of mussels by whelks. The writer of the extract is unknown; JBK/1/9/4: This is an extract from a letter dated 22 Aug 1813 and is addressed to Sir Everard Home. It concerns Banks's observations on an abnormal spider. The writer of the extract is unknown; JBK/1/9/5: This is a typed copy of a letter dated 26 May 1787 to an unknown addressee. It concerns an acknowledgement by Banks of a reference to him that the addressee has made in a literary work; JBK/1/9/6: This is a typed copy of a letter c.18th century and is addressed to Mr. King. It is a covering note to accompany a manuscript relating to Lincoln Castle; BK/1/9/7: This letter sent by Christopher Smith to [Banks] was written on board 'His M Hired Transport' on the China Sea and is dated 26th July 1796. It concerns specimens sent from the Straits of Singapore, Bhao and Malacca; JBK/1/10: Hemp Correspondence: 1764-1810: This box contains mounted documents, both printed and manuscript, concerning the manufacture of flax and hemp. It contains published articles, manuscript notes and correspondence between various individuals including letters to and from Joseph Banks on the subject; JBK/1/11: The Banks Letters - A calendar of the manuscript correspondence : 1958-1975: This bound volume, edited by Warren R. Dawson, was published by the British Museum and provides item level descriptions of the Banks correspondence (c.late 18th - early 19th century) known to be in Great Britain at the time. It also contains three supplementary parts, published in 1962, 1965 and 1975 as well as an article describing Banks papers held in Kent Archives Office; JBK/1/12: Catalogue of the Banks manuscripts in the Knatchbull manuscripts : c 1970: This document details the Banks papers (c 16th - 19th century) held in Kent Archives Office which form part of the larger Knatchbull collection.

JBK/2 : Journals : 1766-1897: This series contains both manuscript and published copies of journals made by Joseph Banks during his expeditions. JBK/2/1 : Banks's Journal : c 19th century: This is the first of three bound volumes containing a manuscript copy of Banks's original journal of 1768-1771 detailing stages of his voyage with Captain Cook aboard the ENDEAVOUR. It is a draft copy by Miss Turner (Joseph Hooker's aunt) and there are many manual corrections. This volume covers the 1768-1769 voyage from England to the South Sea Islands; JBK/2/2 : Banks's Journal : c 19th century: This is the second of three bound volumes containing a manuscript copy of Banks's original journal of 1768-1771 detailing stages of his voyage with Captain Cook aboard the ENDEAVOUR. It is a draft copy by Miss Turner (Joseph Hooker's aunt) and there are many manual corrections. This volume covers the 1769-1770 voyage from the South Sea Islands to New Zealand; JBK/2/3 : Banks's Journal : c 19th century: This is the third of three bound volumes containing a manuscript copy of Banks's original journal of 1768-1771 detailing stages of his voyage with Captain Cook aboard the ENDEAVOUR. It is a draft copy by Miss Turner (Joseph Hooker's aunt) and there are many manual corrections. This volume covers the 1770-1771 voyage from New Zealand to England; JBK/2/4 : Publication of the Endeavour Journal : 1884-1897: This bound indexed volume contains correspondence and other papers concerned with the publication of Banks' journal of his 1768-1771 voyage aboard Captain Cook's ship the ENDEAVOUR. It also contains references to Cook's journal and some other miscellaneous papers relating to Banks; JBK/2/5 : The Journal of Joseph Banks in the ENDEAVOUR: 1980; This is the first of two bound volumes containing a facsimile version of Banks' original journal (covering 1768-1769), published by Genesis Publications Ltd; JBK/2/6 : The Journal of Joseph Banks in the Endeavour : 1980: This is the second of two bound volumes containing a facsimile version of Banks' original journal (covering 1769-1771), published by Genesis Publications Ltd; JBK/2/7 : Banks - Journal of a voyage to Newfoundland : 1895: This bound volume contains a manuscript copy of Banks' Journal of his voyage to Newfoundland 7 Apr - 17 Nov 1766. It was made for Sir Joseph Hooker by W.J. Anderson of the British Museum (Natural History).

JBK/3 : Other Papers : 1805-1820: This series contains a facsimile copy of Banks' will and a volume concerning Banks' work on diseases in corn; JBK/3/1 : Joseph Banks' Last Will and Testament : 7 Jan 1820: This folder contains a facsimile copy of Banks' Will dated 7 Jan 1820 and proved in London on 22 Sep 1820. The original is held at the National Archives, ref. PROB 11/1634 3892; JBK/3/2 : Banks - Disease in Corn : 1805: This bound volume contains Banks' published work on disease in corn together with a manuscript article on corn written by Francis Bauer.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Three series as set out above in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

Unrestricted access.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Contact the Archive for further details.

Finding aids:

Contact the Archive for further information.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

JBK/1/12: Catalogue of the Banks manuscripts in the Knatchbull manuscripts. : c.1970 - This was presented to Kew by Kent Archives Office in 1970; JBK/2/1 - JBK/2/3 : Banks's Journal : c 19th century - These volumes were presented to Kew by Reginald N. Hooker in 1905. JBK/1/9/7 was purchased by RBG Kew at Philips auction on 18th March 1993. The source of other items in this collection is unknown.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Archives: Directors' Correspondence : Vol.1 (c.); Vol.2 (c.) : (made available on microfilm); William Kerr - copy of a letter to Joseph Banks dated 2 Mar 1809 : - Kew Collectors Vol X : copies of two letters from Banks to Mr. Sutton dated 3 Feb 1800, 10 Aug 1802; - W.T. Aiton - copy of a letter to Joseph Banks dated 16 July 1805 (Location ref. Kew Record Book 1793-1809, p.234); Charles Wiles - copy of a letter to Joseph Banks dated 14 Jun 1805 (Location ref. Kew Record Book 1793-1809, p.235); W. Forsyth - original letter from Joseph Banks dated 11 April 1799 (Location ref. Forsyth Correspondence (English Letters) f.87); John Lindley - original letter from Joseph Banks dated 3 July (Location ref. Lindley Letters f.41); A.B. Lambert - original letter from Joseph Banks dated 2 Aug 1813 (Location ref. Lambert Letters f.6); original reply to a letter from James Bruce dated 24 Dec 1789 (Location ref. Miscellaneous Correspondence - Bruce).

Library: Various books about Joseph Banks held in the Main Library at RBG Kew (see library catalogue). The Library also holds a copy on microfilm of the papers of Joseph Banks held at the British Library entitled ' The History of Science and Technology Series Two: The Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820'. There is a detailed catalogue held with the microfilm giving details of the contents of the collection.

See the National Register of Archives for a review of the wheareabouts of a wide range of other Banks material.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Transcribed by Geoff Browell, February 2011.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
February 2011