The subject of this memoir was born in London on the 13th of December,
1743. He was the only son of William Banks, Esquire, of Revesby, who
died in 1761, leaving him, at the age of eighteen, possessed of an ample
fortune. He was at that time a member of the University of Oxford; and
it was in the retirement of collegiate studies that he acquired his taste
for natural history.
Immediately on his leaving the University, in 1763, he made a voyage to
the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and returned with those habits
of investigation which are induced by a contemplation of rare and novel
objects.
Having become a member of the Royal Society, his desire for further
investigation of new worlds was again excited by the plan proposed by
that learned body, for observing the expected transit of Venus, from one
of the South Sea islands. No sooner did Mr. Banks understand that the
Endeavour, commanded by Captain (then Lieutenant) Cook, was equipping for
her voyage, and intended to prosecute further discovery after the
observation of the transit, than he determined to embark in the
expedition. Mr. Banks entered upon his preparations with a most generous
spirit; providing himself with two draughtsmen, a secretary, and four
servants, together with all the necessary books, and instruments. He was
also accompanied by Dr. Solander, a Swedish gentleman, who had been the
pupil of Linnæus.
On the 26th of August, 1768, the Endeavour sailed from Plymouth, on this
great expedition. In the passage to Madeira, Mr. Banks and his
companions discovered many marine animals, which no naturalist had
described. At Madeira, and as they sailed on to Rio Janeiro, their
vigilance was still eagerly awake, and sufficiently gratified by
observations and specimens new to science. The jealousy of the
Portuguese greatly disappointed their curiosity, by forbidding their
researches at Rio Janeiro.
On Wednesday, April 12, 1769, the Endeavour arrived at Otaheite. For
three months the voyagers continued at this and the contiguous isles,
making the astronomical observations, for the sake chiefly of which
Lieutenant Cook was sent out; surveying, as navigators, the coasts of the
different isles; collecting specimens of the natural productions peculiar
to them; and studying the language, manners, and arts of the islanders.
In August, 1769, the Endeavour sailed from the last isle of the group.
In October they made New Zealand, which had not been visited since
Tasman’s voyage. They next sailed to New Holland, chiefly along the East
coast, and gave the name of New South Wales to the adjacent territory.
The ship here struck upon a rock, and was saved only by extraordinary
skill. In laying her down for repairs the sea broke in, and spoiled the
greater part of Mr. Banks’s specimens of natural history: but he was
recompensed by the discovery of the kangaroo. In August, 1770, they
sailed for New Guinea. On their homeward voyage, their short stay at
Batavia was nearly fatal to the expedition. Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander
caught the fever. Tupia, a priest, and a boy named Tayeto, both from
Otaheite, who were proceeding to England, died. Every person of the crew
but one was taken ill. Seven died at Batavia, and twenty-three more
within six weeks after. On the 12th of June, 1771, the vessel anchored
in the downs.
Early in 1772 an expedition was prepared under the command of Captain
Cook, to proceed in search of the so much talked of Southern Continent,
in which Mr. Banks most anxiously took a part, intending to perform the
voyage; and he accordingly prepared his establishment upon the most
extensive scale. On this account orders were given by the Admiralty for
fitting the ships out with every possible accommodation that Mr. Banks
could desire; but when the Resolution sailed from Long Reach for
Plymouth, she was found so very crank, from the additional upper works,
that she was obliged to be carried into Sheerness to have the additional
cabins cut away, with such other alterations as were necessary to make
her sea-worthy. This of course struck at the very root of Mr. Banks’s
project, in curtailing him of the space and accommodation absolutely
necessary for the establishment which he had formed; and he was
reluctantly compelled to give up his plans.
Disappointed in this expedition, Mr. Banks was prompted to engage in some
other active research, and accordingly determined on a voyage to Iceland
and the western islands of Scotland; partly for the purpose of scientific
observation, and, as Van Troil states, who accompanied him, in order to
keep together and employ the draughtsmen, and other persons, who had been
engaged for the South Sea expedition.
They sailed from the river in July, and called at Portsmouth, thence to
Plymouth, and proceeded up St. George’s Channel, to the Western Islands,
visiting Oransay, Columbkill, Scarba, and Staffa, so remarkable for its
basaltic columns, but until then comparatively unknown. They passed the
Orkneys and Shetland islands without any particular investigation; and on
the 28th of August, 1772, arrived off the coast of Iceland. After
completely investigating every thing curious, they left Iceland, and
arrived at Edinburgh in November, from whence they set off by land for
London.
After his return Mr. Banks passed his time principally in London, or at
his paternal seat at Revesby, surrounded by men of letters, and by
persons of the first rank and fortune; and dedicating his time and
fortune to scientific pursuits.
Sir John Pringle having retired from the office of President of the Royal
Society in 1777, Mr. Banks was called to fill the vacant chair, when his
ample fortune enabled him to commence a system by which his house became,
through a long series of years, a scene of hospitality, to genius of
every country, and of every rank in society.
The close attention which the President now paid to the duties of his
station, induced him to select a rural retirement nearer to London than
his seat at Revesby; he therefore, in the year 1779, took a lease of the
premises, which he afterwards purchased, at Spring Grove, in the parish
of Heston, in Middlesex; and on the 29th of March in the same year, he
married Dorothea, daughter and co-heiress of William Weston Hugeson,
Esquire, of Provender, in the parish of Norton, county of Kent.
In 1781, Mr. Banks was honored by his Sovereign with a baronetcy; as he
was some years afterwards, by being created a Knight of the Bath, and
sworn one of his Majesty’s Honorable Privy Counsel.
Sir Joseph was re-elected to the Presidency of the Royal Society, for
several years, with an unanimous feeling; but the jealousies of some
members of splendid and commanding talents began to be developed. It was
charged against him, that in the recommendation of candidates, he bowed
rather to the pretensions of rank, than to the unobtrusive, but undoubted
claims of eminent ability. This feeling so far extended itself, that in
1784, a dignitary of the church, distinguished for his mathematical
learning, threatened a secession in the following terms:—“If other
remedies fail, we can at least secede. When the hour of secession comes,
the President will be left with his train of feeble amateurs, and that
toy upon the table, the ghost of that society in which Philosophy once
reigned, and Newton presided as her minister.” The very temper of this
burst of eloquence is a proof of the causes of the schism. The pride of
genius was opposed to the pride of rank, and the conflict was as
obstinate as it was violent. The President maintained his position
firmly, and he lived to behold that intimate union which ought ever to
exist between the patrons and the votaries of learning.
Beside devoting his attention to the duties of the chair of the Royal
Society, Sir Joseph became an active member of all the public societies
of the day; and to his care in a great degree the African Association
owes its origin. He also liberally encouraged and assisted those who
undertook voyages or travels of discovery. In his attentions to the
breeding of sheep and cattle, and to the improvements in husbandry, he
gave many instances of scientific patriotism; and to his exertions may be
attributed the drainage of the Fens in the immediate vicinity of Revesby.
To the Horticultural society, which he assisted in forming, he was a
contributor of several papers. In politics he took no ostensible part,
and had not even a seat in parliament.
During the latter years of his life, Sir Joseph was so severely afflicted
with the gout, as to be deprived of the use of his lower extremities, and
consequently unable to take his accustomed exercise. In 1817 he was by
death deprived of his sister, a loss which he severely felt. In April,
1820, in consequence of increasing debility, he expressed a wish to
resign his office of President of the Royal Society, but this resignation
the society were unwilling to accept of, and he continued to hold the
office until his death, which took place on the 19th of the following
month. His remains were interred in the church yard at Heston. Having
no issue, his title is extinct. After the death of his widow, his
estates in Lincolnshire go to the Honorable James Hamilton Stanhope, and
Sir Henry Hawley, Baronet; the remainder of his estates to Sir Edward
Knatchbull, Baronet. His valuable and extensive library he bequeathed to
the British Museum.