Sir Joseph Banks: Botanist
Sir Joseph Banks was born in London on February 13th, 1743.
Banks had lot's of different interests. When Banks was younger he
loved to wander in the woods, meadows, and the stream banks
around his boy hood home. As Banks grew older he went to school.
At an early age he had a personal teacher come to his home which
was in Revesby Lincolnshire and was sent to a school called
Harrow School at the age of nine. Banks also went to other
schools as he got older, such as Eton where he taught himself
botany, and at Oxford where he joined and probably helped found
the Botanical Club, The Fossil Club, and the Antiquarian's Club.
James Cook, one of Banks good friends, was a Lt. of the Royal
Navy. He was commanded to take command of the 368 ton ship named
the Endeavour, and to sail it to the south pacific and Tahiti.
Banks and Cook were out on the ocean for at least 4 long years
exploring new and different continents. Banks enlarged the wests
knowledge of existing plants by 25%! While Banks was sailing with
Cook the Endeavor ran aground on the great barrier reef on the
island of Tahiti. Banks collected about 300 plant species, as
well as fish, birds, and insects, which was a great
accomplishment for the amount of time they were there. Then the
artists went on to sketching and mounting all of them so everyone
in London would know what Banks saw. Banks didn't just take stuff
from the island he also brought watermelons, oranges, lemons,
limes, those seeds and the others that he got from Rio de
Janeiro. Banks accomplished this July 4, 1769. When he
accomplished that Banks did what later scientists would call an
antipodean exchange, the movement of plants and animals all
around the world.
When Banks got back in England in July of1771 he had brought
30,000 different plants and animals and every single one of them
had been drawn and preserved just waiting to be classified and
cataloged. After Banks was done sailing around collecting plants
and animals he spent most of the rest of his life with the Royal
Society. In 1778 Banks was elected president of the group which
had once been held by Sir Isaac Newton. Banks also participated
in the supervision of the colonization of New South Wales. Banks
took a lot of cuttings of the plants he collected and named, to
insure the species would survive.
Banks lived to a ripe old age of 77. He spent his life
discovering plants and animals of all kinds. He died on June 19,
1820.
Pictures of Sir Joseph Banks
See Sir Joseph's Life Map
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