The Nan Kivell Collection, which was purchased in 1959, contained a number of letters of Banks and other letters have been bought from dealers or at auctions. Petherick in 1886 at a Sotheby’s sale in London. Most of the papers of Joseph Banks held in the Library were received in 1909 as part of the Petherick Collection. He took a strong interest in the naval expeditions led by William Bligh, George Vancouver and Matthew Flinders, advised the Government on colonial appointments, corresponded with all the early governors of New South Wales, and in particular encouraged naturalists and artists such as Robert Brown, George Caley and Allan Cunningham. In 17 he recommended Botany Bay as the site of a penal settlement. He maintained a vast correspondence with scientists throughout Europe, North America, India and at colonial outposts.īanks had a keen interest in Australia from 1770, when he landed at Botany Bay and Endeavour River, until his death. He was made a baronet in 1781 He served on government bodies such as the British Museum, Royal Observatory and the Board of Longitude, was the virtual director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and was active in learned societies such as the Society of Antiquaries and the British Institution. He became President of the Royal Society in 1778 and held the position until his death. For the rest of his life, he was the supreme organiser, patron and government adviser on all matters connected with science. Instead, Banks made a short journey to Iceland.Īt the age of 30, Banks’s career as an explorer and naturalist had come to an end. Banks was to have accompanied Cook on his second voyage, but his ambitious attempts to reorganise the expedition antagonized Cook and the Admiralty and they parted company. They discovered about 1400 new species and on their return to England in 1771 the reception given to Banks overshadowed that of Cook. For nearly three years Banks and his associates collected natural history specimens, made drawings, compiled vocabularies and kept journals as they voyaged to South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, the eastern coast of Australia, New Guinea and the Cape of Good Hope. He was accompanied by Solander, another botanist Herman Sporing, the astronomer Charles Green, two artists, Alexander Buchan and Sydney Parkinson, and two servants. In 1768, on the recommendation of the Royal Society, Banks joined the Endeavour on the expedition to the Pacific led by Lieutenant James Cook. In that year Banks was the naturalist on an expedition to Labrador and Newfoundland. In 1766 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society and at the same time he became friendly with the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander, who was on the staff of the British Museum. His father died in 1761, leaving him with the means to pursue his scientific interests, as well as enjoy the cultural life of London. At school he became intensely interested in botany and at university he devoted most of his time to natural history rather than classical studies. He was educated at Harrow School, Eton College and the University of Oxford. Become a Friend of the National Libraryīorn in London, Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was the son of William Banks, a wealthy landowner of Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire.National Library of Australia Publishing.Using the Library Expand Using the Library sub menu.
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