|
Date: |
|
Description: | Diplomas and certificates awarded to Sir Joseph Banks, the great naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences, by scholarly and civic institutions in Britain and Europe.
Joseph Banks was born in 1743 at his father's house in London, but spent much of his childhood at the family's country estate, Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire, which he inherited in 1761. His early love of botany led him to decide against the Grand Tour of Europe which was expected of a young man of his class, but instead to join expeditions of discovery in the wider world as a naturalist. He accompanied Captain James Cook on his first great voyage of discovery between 1768 and 1771 which ensured the fame of both men on their return to Britain.
The first documents in this group date from the period immediately after Banks' return to Britain, but their continuance over nearly 50 years reflects the distinction with which he maintained and enhanced his international scholarly reputation.
The diploma from Danzig, Poland of 1780 (2-RA/8) is the first in this group to refer to him as President of the Royal Society in London, to which he had been elected in 1778, and the diploma from the Bavarian Academy in Munich of 1785 (2-RA/9) is the first to refer to him as a Baronet, to which honour he had been raised in 1781. He was made a knight of the Order of the Bath in 1795 and a member of the Privy Council in 1797 (2-RA/13).
Five of the documents (2-RA/14-18) are dated according to the French Republican Calendar, which was established during the French Revolution and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805. The documents in this group all date from around the brief period when contact between Britain and France was re-established between the end of the French Revolutionary Wars and the commencement of the Napoleonic Wars.
The final document in this group (2-RA/35) is dated 3 October 1819; Sir Joseph died on 19th June 1820, aged 77.
The documents were transferred to Lincolnshire Archives in 2008 by Boston Library, to which they had been passed by Boston Guildhall Museum. It is not known how they had come to be in the keeping of Boston Guildhall Museum, but it may be relevant that the earliest of the documents is that issued by the Borough of Boston. | Temporal: | 1771-1819 | Source: | Lincolnshire County Council | Identifier: | http://www.lincstothepast.com/Records/Re... | Go to resource |
|
More Like this...
-
-
-
-
K1
A one day marine timekeeper…
-
-
-
-
-
-
|