Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS (24 February [O.S. 13 February] 1743 – 19 June 1820) was a British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage (1768–1771), visiting Brazil, Tahiti, and, after 6 months in New Zealand, Australia, returning to immediate fame. He held the position of President of the Royal Society for over 41 years. He advised King George III on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and by sending botanists around the world to collect plants, he made Kew the world's leading botanical gardens.
Banks advocated British settlement in New South Wales and colonisation of Australia, as well as the establishment of Botany Bay as a place for the reception of convicts, and advised the British government on all Australian matters. He is credited with introducing the eucalyptus, acacia, and the genus named after him, Banksia, to the Western world. Approximately 80 species of plants bear his name. He was the leading founder of the African Association and a member of the Society of Dilettanti which helped to establish the Royal Academy.
Joseph Banks (1665-1727), of Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire, was an English politician.
He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of Great Britain for Great Grimsby from 1715 to 1722 and for Totnes 1722 to 1727.
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Joseph Banks (21 June 1695 – 31 March 1741) was a British landowner and MP.
He was born the son of Joseph Banks of Scofton, Nottinghamshire and trained in the law at the Middle Temple. He succeeded his father in 1727, inheriting the family home at Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire, which his father had bought in 1711.
He served as a Lieutenant in the Nottinghamshire militia in 1715. After serving as MP for Peterborough from 1728 to 1734, he was appointed High Sheriff of Lincolnshire for 1735–36.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1730.
He married twice, firstly Anne, the daughter and heiress of merchant William Hodgkinson of Overton, Derbyshire, with whom he had 3 sons and 3 daughters and secondly Catherine Collingwood, widow of Newcomen Wallis, with whom he had a further 2 sons. His son William, also an MP, was the father of Sir Joseph Banks, the eminent botanist.
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Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) was a British naturalist and botanist.
Joseph or Joe Banks may also refer to: