sir joseph banks

Discuss the connection between natural history and political

economy in Britain in the second half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

Sir Joseph Banks

• Political Links– The Earl of Sandwich– George III – William Pitt– Earls of Liverpool

Sir Joseph Banks• Kew Botanical Gardens– 1759– Sovereignty through plants– Economic power expressed through botany

• Patriotism– Agriculture as an ‘improver’ of the nation– Enclosure– Protectionism and support of landed interests– Conflict with France

Centres of Calculation

• Networks• Patronage of Exploration• Accumulation of knowledge and familiarity

with foreignness• Merchants and trading used to expand

knowledge of natural history

British Empire

• Making best use of the land– Better educated to make better use of it– Transferring plants for wider cultivation

• Tea Cultivation• Trade to Colonisation– Economic Dominance

Knowledge and Power

• Botany as diplomatic currency– Gift giving

• Cost of collecting novelties contributes to dignity of crown and standing of the country

The 19th Century

• Individual influence in data accumulation narrowed

• Nationalisation of culture and rationalisation of government

• Banks’ collections eventually passed to the British Museum

• Natural history and science remained prominent

Sweet blooms the rose, the towering oak expands, the grace and guard of Britain’s golden lands.