Edward (Bill) Banks (1903–1988) was a British administrator, amateur naturalist and museum curator.

Life

Banks was born in Newport, Wales. He was the only son of Reginald Clare Banks, a colliery proprietor, but had three older sisters and went on to study zoology at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. In 1925 Banks entered the

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

Service and served as a District Officer during the period of the

White Rajahs The White Rajahs were a dynastic monarchy of the British Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak, located on the north west coast of the island of Borneo, from 1841 to 1946. The first ruler was Briton James Brooke. As a reward ...

. He was also

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Sarawak Museum The Sarawak State Museum ( ms, Muzium Negeri Sarawak) is the oldest museum in Borneo. It was founded in 1888 and opened in 1891 in a purpose-built building in Kuching, Sarawak. It has been said that naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace encouraged C ...

in Kuching from 1925 to 1945. During the

Japanese occupation of Sarawak Before the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, the island of Borneo was divided into five territories. Four of the territories were in the north and under British control – Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, an island, and British North Borneo; w ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Banks was interned at

Batu Lintang camp Batu Lintang camp (also known as Lintang Barracks and Kuching POW camp) at Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo was a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. It was unusual in that it housed both Allied prisoners of war (POWs) ...

near Kuching. Banks retired in 1950. A collection of Banks' papers are in the Papers of the Brooke Family of Sarawak (1941–1981), held in the Rhodes House Library in Oxford, England.Ooi 1998, 535-6

Selected publications

Articles

*1931 "A trip through the Murut country. Ulu Trusan and Bah Kelalan." ''Sarawak Gazette'' 61:144-146. *1936 "The Kelabit country. An account of a recent visit." ''Sarawak Gazette'' 66:158-159. *1937a "Some megalithic remains from the Kelabit country in Sarawak with some notes on the Kelabits themselves." ''Sarawak Museum Journal'' 4(5):411-437. *1937b "Native drinks in Sarawak." ''Sarawak Museum Journal'' 4(5):439-447. *1937c "Drink." ''Sarawak Gazette'' 67:3-6 (reprint of 1937b). *1939 "Murut morons." ''Sarawak Gazette'' 69(1030):107. *1940 "The natives of Sarawak." ''

Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society The ''Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'' (JMBRAS) is a scholarly journal published by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS). The journal covers topics of historical interest concerning peninsular Ma ...

'' 18:49-54.

Books

*1949. ''A Naturalist in Sarawak''. Kuching Press: Kuching, Sarawak. *1949. ''Bornean Mammals''. Kuching Press: Kuching, Sarawak. *c.1963. ''The Green Desert''. Author.

Notes

References

* Heimann, Judith M. (1999). ''The Most Offending Soul Alive: Tom Harrisson and His Remarkable Life''. University of Hawai'i Press: Honolulu. * Nicholl, Robert (1989). Edward Banks (obituary). ''

Brunei Museum Journal {{italic title ''Brunei Museum Journal'' is an academic journal, published annually by the Brunei Museum. Its first volume was produced in 1969. The journal is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge of Brunei Darussalam, Borneo, and Southeast ...

'' 7(1), 71 * Ooi, Keat Gin (1998) ''Japanese Empire in the Tropics: Selected Documents and Reports of the Japanese Period in Sarawak, Northwest Borneo, 1941-1945'' Ohio University Center for International Studies, Monographs in International Studies, SE Asia Series 101 (2 vols) British curators British naturalists 1903 births 1988 deaths British administrators in Sarawak World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan Internees at Batu Lintang camp People from Kuching 20th-century naturalists {{UK-scientist-stub