by James Alexander-Sinclair
Friday 19th June 2009 was the 189th anniversary of the death of one of the most influential people of the 18th century [...] Sir Joseph Banks.
Friday 19th June 2009 was the 189th anniversary of the death of one of the most influential people of the 18th century. While 189 is not a very sexy anniversary, I feel that he was such an extraordinary fellow that he should at least receive a passing nod every year. So, all hail Sir Joseph Banks.
For those who don't know, he travelled with Captain Cook on the Endeavour in 1768. This voyage landed in Australia, New Zealand and the Tahitian Islands. When in Australia he (along with Daniel Solander and Dr.Herman Sporing) made the first collection of Australian flora, introducing nearly 3,500 species new to science (including eucalyptus). He also travelled to Newfoundland and, slightly less dramatically, he and Solander also trawled the Isle of Wight, Scotland and Iceland looking for new plants. His Florilegium was eventually published between 1980-1990 and took up 35 whopping great volumes.
He will be remembered by gardeners not only for the work he did setting up Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, but also for the 75 different species of plant named after him, including an entire genus, the banksias. These are evergreen shrubs, found mostly in Australia, with wonderful conical flowerheads. Banks is also commemorated by Rosa banksiae (named after his wife, Dorothea) and R.banksiae 'Lutea', a pale yellow version, which is a stunning climbing rose with evergreen leaves and barely any thorns.
However, he wasn't just a gardener and, during his 41 year presidency of the Royal Society, he encouraged innovation in astronomy, exploration, politics (he suggested Botany Bay as a suitable destination for transported prisoners), agriculture, chemistry (including the development of Humphrey Davy's safety lamp for miners,) physics, poetry and geology.
He was also one of the founding members, along with Josiah Wedgwood, of the Royal Horticultural Society, and is probably the only member of the RHS Council ever to have written an in-depth description of a Tahitian maiden having her buttocks tattooed. For that achievement alone he is worth remembering.
ps If you are in Northamptonshire this weekend then don't miss the Cottesbrooke Plantfinders Fair. It runs from Friday to Sunday in the gorgeous grounds of Cottesbrooke Hall. There will be plenty of fabulous nurseries, a plant swap and the chance to look round the gardens - including the herbaceous borders that I replanted a couple of years ago. I hope to see you there.
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