Joseph Banks (21 June 1695 – 31 March 1741), of

Revesby Abbey Revesby Abbey was a Cistercian monastery near the village of Revesby in Lincolnshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1143 by William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, and the first monks came from Rievaulx Abbey. After the Dissolution of the Mo ...

, Lincolnshire was a British landowner and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1728 to 1734. Banks was the eldest son of

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English 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 ...

Scofton Scofton is a hamlet in the Bassetlaw district of northern Nottinghamshire, England. It is north west of London, north of the county town and city of Nottingham, and east of the nearest town Worksop. Having a shared modern history with nearb ...

(just east of

Worksop Worksop ( ) is a market town in the Bassetlaw District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is located east-south-east of Sheffield, close to Nottinghamshire's borders with South Yorkshire and Derbyshire, on the River Ryton and not far from the nor ...

) in Nottinghamshire. He was admitted at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in 1711. He married Anne Hodgkinson, the daughter and heiress of merchant William Hodgkinson, merchant of Overton, Derbyshire, on 11 April 1714. In 1715 he was a lieutenant in the Nottinghamshire militia. He succeeded his father in 1727, inheriting the estate of Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire, which provided an income of £3,000 a year. Banks was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until 1 ...

on the government interest at a by-election on 22 May 1728. In his disappointment at not being awarded the office of custos rotulorum of the city a few months later, he went over to the Opposition and voted against the Government in every recorded division. He did not stand at the 1734 British general election. Banks was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1730. His wife Anne died on 9 September 1730 and he married as his second wife Catherine Wallis, born Collingwood, widow of his former tenant Newcomen Wallis on 19 October 1731. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilitie ...

for the year 1735 to 1736. Banks died on 31 March 1741. By his first wife Anne, he had three daughters and three sons, including

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, also an MP. He had a further two sons by his second wife Catherine. His son William was the father of

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English 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 C ...

, the eminent botanist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Joseph 1695 births 1741 deaths People from Bassetlaw District Members of the Middle Temple High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 Fellows of the Royal Society People from East Lindsey District