John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, (30 April 183428 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker,
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician,
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
,
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
and
polymath
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
. Lubbock worked in his family company as a banker but made significant contributions in
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
,
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
, and several branches of
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
. He coined the terms "
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
" and "
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
" to denote the Old and New Stone Ages, respectively. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was influential in debates concerning evolutionary theory.
He introduced the first law for the protection of the UK's archaeological and architectural heritage. He was also a founding member of the
X Club
The X Club was a dining club of nine men who supported the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism in late 19th-century England. Thomas Henry Huxley was the initiator; he called the first meeting for 3 November 1864. The club m ...
.
Early life
John Lubbock was born in 1834, the son of
Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet
Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd Baronet FRS (26 March 1803 – 21 June 1865) was an English banker, barrister, mathematician and astronomer.
Life
He was born in Westminster, the son of Sir John William Lubbock, of the Lubbock & Co bank. He w ...
, a London banker, and was brought up in the family home of
High Elms Estate, near
Downe
Downe, formerly Down, () is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond the London urban sprawl. Downe is south west of Orpington and south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, and ...
in Kent. The family had two homes, one at 29 Eaton Place, Belgrave Square where John was born, and another in Mitcham Grove. Lubbock senior had studied mathematics at
Cambridge University
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
and had written on probability, and on astronomy. 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 ...
, he was keenly involved in the scientific debates of the time, as well as serving as the Vice Chancellor of
London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
. During 1842, his father brought home a "great piece of news": the young Lubbock said later that he initially thought that the news might be of a new pony, and was disappointed to learn it was only that
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
was moving to
Down House
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London before moving to Down ...
in the village. The youth was soon a frequent visitor to Down House, and became the closest of Darwin's younger friends.
Their relationship stimulated young Lubbock's passion for science and evolutionary theory.
[ John's mother, Harriet, was deeply religious.
In 1845, Lubbock began studies at ]Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
. After finishing school, he was employed by his father's bank, Lubbock & Co. (which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co.), of which he became a partner at the age of 22. Around 1852, he assisted Darwin's research by examining and illustrating barnacles. In 1865, he succeeded to the baronetcy
A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...
.
Business and politics
In the early 1870s Lubbock became increasingly interested in politics. In 1870, and again in 1874, he was elected as a Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
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 ...
(MP) for Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
. He lost the seat at the election of 1880, but was at once elected member for London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
, of which he had been vice-chancellor since 1872.[ As an MP, Lubbock had a distinguished political career, with four main political agendas: promotion of the study of science in primary and secondary schools; the national debt, free trade, and related economic issues; protection of ancient monuments; securing of additional holidays and shorter working hours for the working classes.][ He was successful with numerous enactments in Parliament, including the ]Bank Holidays Act 1871
The Bank Holidays Act 1871 established public holidays (known as bank holidays) in addition to those customarily recognised in the United Kingdom.
The Act designated four bank holidays in England, Wales and Ireland ( Easter Monday; Whit Monday; ...
and the Ancient Monuments Act 1882
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (as it then was). It was introduced by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, recognising the need for a governmental administrat ...
, along with another 28 acts of Parliament. When the Liberals split in 1886 on the issue of Irish Home Rule
The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...
, Lubbock joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
in opposition to Irish home rule. A prominent supporter of the Statistical Society, he took an active part in criticizing the encroachment of municipal trading and the increase of the municipal debt.[
Lubbock's thoughts about the nature and value of politics were deeply influenced by his scientific research, particularly his writings on early human society. He believed that the cognitive foundations of morality could be shaped through political economy, particularly through a national education system that implemented subjects mandated by the state. He held that the minds of children could be shaped in the direction of democracy, liberalism and morality through learning how to read and write. To this goal he was a strong supporter of the ]Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities with defined powers, autho ...
and he defended the introduction of the national curriculum during the 1870s and 1880s.
In 1879 Lubbock was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers
The London Institute of Banking & Finance is the oldest training and professional body for banking and financial services in England and Wales, and works internationally with partners to establish ethical and professional standards across the ...
. In 1881, he was president of the British Association
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...
, and from 1881 to 1886, president of the Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
.[ In March 1883, he founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, which in 1986 became th]
Bankers' Benevolent Fund
– a charity for bank employees, past and present, and their dependants. In January 1884, he founded the Proportional Representation Society, later to become the Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single t ...
.
In recognition of his contributions to the sciences, Lubbock received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford
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 the ...
, Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(where he was Rede lecturer
The Sir Robert Rede's Lecturer is an annual appointment to give a public lecture, the Sir Robert Rede's Lecture (usually Rede Lecture) at the University of Cambridge. It is named for Robert Rede, Sir Robert Rede, who was Chief Justice of the Common ...
in 1886), Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
and Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
; and was appointed a trustee of the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1878. He received the German Order Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
for Science and Arts in August 1902.
From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is London’s key hub for the business community, we support members’ businesses through a range of services, advocate on behalf of London’s business community in the most important forums of pol ...
, and he was later President of the Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom. In local politics, he was from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
.[ In February 1890 he was appointed a ]privy councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
; and was chairman of the committee of design for the new coinage in 1891. On 22 January 1900, he was raised to the peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
as Baron Avebury, of Avebury
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in t ...
, in the county of Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, his title commemorating the largest Stone Age site in Britain, which he had helped to preserve. He was President of the Royal Statistical Society
The president of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), elected biennially by the Fellows of the Society. (The time-period between elections has varied in the past, and in fact elections only rarely occur ...
from 1900 to 1902.
In November 1905, together with Lord Courtney of Penwith
Leonard Henry Courtney, 1st Baron Courtney of Penwith (6 July 183211 May 1918) was a radical British politician, and an academic, who became famous after being advocate of proportional representation in Parliament and acting as an opponent of ...
, he founded the Anglo-German Friendship Committee The Anglo-German Friendship Committee was a London-based association founded in 1905 to promote the improvement of cordial relations between Great Britain and Germany.
The Committee was launched on 1 December 1905 at a meeting in Caxton Hall, Londo ...
which sought to counteract the influence of the British war party, whose anti-German propaganda was then at its zenith, and smooth the way towards more amicable relations between England and Germany.
The quotation, "We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth", is often attributed to Lubbock. This variation appears in his book ''The Pleasures of Life''.
Archaeology and biological science
In addition to his work at his father's bank, Lubbock took a keen interest in archaeology and evolutionary theory. In 1855, he and Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...
discovered the skull of a musk ox in a gravel pit, a discovery that was commended by Darwin. A collection of Iron Age antiquities Lubbock and Sir John Evans
Sir John Evans (17 November 1823 – 31 May 1908) was an England, English archaeologist and geologist.
Biography
John Evans, son of the Rev. Arthur Benoni Evans, A. B. Evans, was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire. At the age of seventeen ...
excavated at the site of Hallstatt
Hallstatt ( , , ) is a small town in the district of Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Salzkammergut ...
in Austria is now in the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
's collection. He spoke in support of the evolutionist Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The storie ...
at the famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate. During the 1860s, he published many articles in which he used archaeological evidence to support Darwin's theory.[ In 1864, he became one of the founding members (along with ]Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The storie ...
and others) of the elite X Club
The X Club was a dining club of nine men who supported the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism in late 19th-century England. Thomas Henry Huxley was the initiator; he called the first meeting for 3 November 1864. The club m ...
, a dining club composed of nine gentlemen to promote the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism. He held a number of influential academic positions, including President of the Ethnological Society from 1864 to 1865, vice-president of Linnean Society
The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
in 1865, and President of the International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology in 1868. In 1865 he published ''Pre-Historic Times'', which became a standard archaeology textbook for the remainder of the century, with the seventh and final edition published in 1913.[
His second book, ''On the Origin of Civilization'', was published in 1870. He held the position of President of the ]Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
from 1871 to 1872, as well as the position of Vice President of the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1871. During this period he worked with John Evans, the other key figure in the establishment of the discipline of archaeology.[ He invented the terms "]Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
" and "Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
" to denote the Old and New Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
s, respectively. He also introduced a Darwinian-type theory of human nature and development. "What was new was Lubbock's ... insistence that, as a result of natural selection, human groups had become different from each other, not only culturally, but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture."
Lubbock complained in the preface to ''Pre-Historic Times'' about Charles Lyell
Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
:
:
"Note.—In his celebrated work on the ''Antiquity of Man'', he coined the term Neolithic in 1865. Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier articles in the ''Natural History Review'', frequently, indeed, extracting whole sentences verbatim, or nearly so. But as he has in these cases omitted to mention the source from which his quotations were derived, my readers might naturally think that I had taken very unjustifiable liberties with the work of the eminent geologist. A reference to the respective dates will, however, protect me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the Danish Shell-mounds was published after his sheets were written, is an inadvertence, regretted, I have reason to believe, as much by its author as it is by me."
In the 1870s, he bought land at Avebury to prevent part of the ancient stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
from being built on. This, and other threats to the nation's heritage, persuaded him that some legal protection was needed. In 1874, he introduced a parliamentary bill that would identify a list of ancient sites that deserved legal protection. After several later attempts and against some opposition, it was not until 1882 that a much watered down version, The Ancient Monuments Act, came into being. Though restricted to 68 largely prehistoric monuments, it was the forerunner of all later laws governing the UK's archaeological and architectural heritage.
Lubbock was also an amateur biologist of some distinction, writing books on hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is a large order (biology), order of insects, comprising the sawfly, sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are Par ...
(''Ants, Bees and Wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera.'' Kegan Paul, London; New York: Appleton, 1884), on insect sense organs and development, on the intelligence of animals, the first monograph on UK Springtail
Springtails (Collembola) form the largest of the three lineages of modern hexapods that are no longer considered insects (the other two are the Protura and Diplura). Although the three orders are sometimes grouped together in a class called Ento ...
s (''Collembola'') (''Monograph on the Collembola and Thysanura'', Ray Society, London), and on other natural history topics. He discovered that ants were sensitive to light in the near ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
range of the electromagnetic spectrum. In 1874 he became the first President of the British Beekeepers Association
The British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) is a Charitable organization, charitable organisation registered in Charitable organisation (England), England and Wales that was founded in 1874. It is made up of 75 associations in England & Wales plu ...
. A verse in ''Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' in 1882 described his activities:
:''How doth the Banking Busy Bee,''
:''Improve his shining Hours?''
:''By studying on Bank Holidays,''
:''Strange insects and Wild Flowers!''
He corresponded extensively with Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, who lived nearby at Down House
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London before moving to Down ...
. Lubbock stayed in Downe except for a brief period from 1861 to 1865, when he lived in Chislehurst
Chislehurst () is a suburban district of south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Bromley. It lies east of Bromley, south-west of Sidcup and north-west of Orpington, south-east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater L ...
. Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform
For centuries, there have been movements to reform the spelling of the English language. It seeks to change English orthography so that it is more consistent, matches pronunciation better, and follows the alphabetic principle. Common motives for ...
, and members of the Spelling Reform Association, precursor to the Simplified Spelling Society. Darwin rented land, originally from Lubbock's father, in Sandwalk wood where he performed his daily exercise, and in 1874 agreed with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin's property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
, organising a letter to the dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearers.[
In May 1884, an article appeared in '']Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
'' describing experiments by Lubbock in the field of human-animal communication
Anthrozoology, also known as human–nonhuman-animal studies (HAS), is the subset of ethnobiology that deals with biological interaction, interactions between humans and other animals. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with other ...
.
In 1884, he was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
and in 1893, a member of the American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
.
Family
Lubbock was one of eight brothers and three sisters; three brothers, Alfred
Alfred may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series
* ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne
* ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák
*"Alfred (Interlu ...
, Nevile and Edgar
Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''gar'' "spear").
Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, rev ...
, played first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
for Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. Edgar and Alfred also played football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and played together for Old Etonians
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
in the 1875 FA Cup Final. His nephew, Percy Lubbock
Percy Lubbock, CBE (4 June 1879 – 1 August 1965) was an English man of letters, known as an essayist, critic and biographer. His controversial book ''The Craft of Fiction'' gained influence in the 1920s.
Life
Percy Lubbock was the son of the ...
, was a prominent man of letters
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
and another nephew was the writer and historian Basil Lubbock
Alfred Basil Lubbock MC (9 September 1876 – 3 September 1944 at Monks Orchard, Seaford) was a British historian, sailor and soldier. He was a prolific writer on the last generation of commercial sailing vessels in the Age of Sail. He was an e ...
.
Lubbock married Ellen Frances Horden in April 1856. Five years after her death, on 17 May 1884 he married Alice Lane Fox, the daughter of Augustus Pitt Rivers
Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological methodology, and in the museum display o ...
. He rebuilt Kingsgate Castle
Kingsgate Castle on the cliffs above Kingsgate Bay, Broadstairs, Kent, was built for Lord Holland (Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland) in the 1760s as the stable block of his nearby country residence Holland House. His main residence was Holland Ho ...
, near Broadstairs in Kent, as his family home, where he died in 1913. He was succeeded by his eldest son, John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
.
He was buried in St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
the Abbott Church, in Farnborough, London
Farnborough is a village in south-eastern Greater London, England, located in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent. Situated south of Locksbottom, west of Green Street Green, north of Downe and Hazelwood, London, Hazelwoo ...
. Three years later, his remains were disinterred and placed in a family burial ground a few hundred yards from the church, along with the original stone Celtic cross
The Celtic cross is a form of Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring that emerged in Ireland, France and Great Britain in the Early Middle Ages. A type of ringed cross, it became widespread through its use in the stone high crosses er ...
marking his grave. In 1986, Bromley Council, unknown to the Lubbock family, moved the cross back to the main church graveyard.
References
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Books
The following is a list of publications by Sir John Lubbock, arranged in chronological order by the dates of the first editions of each work.
*Lubbock J. (1865) '' Pre-Historic Times, As Illustrated by Ancient Remains, and the Manners and Customs of Modern Savages'', Williams & Norgate, London
*Lubbock J. (1870) '' The Origin of Civilisation and the Primitive Condition of Man'', Longmans, Green & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1871) '' Monograph on the Collembola and Thysanura'', Ray Society, London
*Lubbock J. (1872) '' On the Origin and the Metamorphoses of Insects'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1873) '' British Wild Flowers Considered in relation to Insects'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1874) '' Scientific Lectures'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1877)
Ant Intelligence
, Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
article, 31 March 1877, p. 198-199
*Lubbock J. (1879) '' Addresses, Political and Educational'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1881) '' Fifty Years of Science, Being the Address Delivered at York to the British Association, August 1881'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1882) '' Ants, Bees and Wasps: A Record of Observations on the Habits of the Social Hymenoptera'', Keegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co. Ltd., London: 442 pp.
*Lubbock J. (1882) '' Chapters in Popular Natural History'', National Society, London
*Lubbock J. (1883) ''On Representation'', Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Berne
*Lubbock J. (1882) '' Flowers, Fruits and Leaves'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1883) '' On the Senses, Instincts and Intelligence of Animals, With Special Reference to Insects'', Keegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co. Ltd., London: 512 pp.
*Lubbock J. (1887–89) '' The pleasures of life'', (2 volumes) Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1889) ''La Vie des Plantes'', Hachette Livre
*Lubbock J. (1890) ''Flowers and Insects'', Macmillan & Co., London (Included in later compilations)
*Lubbock J. (1892) '' The Beauties of Nature'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1894) ''The Use of Life'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1896)
The Duty of Happiness
', H. Altemus,
*Lubbock J. (1896) '' The Scenery of Switzerland'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1898) '' On Buds and Stipules'', Keegan Paul, Trench, Trübner, & Co. Ltd., London: 239 pp.
*Lubbock J. (1902) ''The Scenery of England'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1902) '' A Short History of Coins and Currency'', John Murray
*Lubbock J. (1904) ''Free Trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1905) '' Notes on The Life History of British Flowering Plants'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1905) ''Happiness and Thrift'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1906) '' On Municipal and National Trading'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1909) '' On Peace and Happiness'', Macmillan & Co., London
*Lubbock J. (1911) '' Marriage, Totemism and Religion'', Longmans, Green & Co., London
Further reading
*Grant Duff U. (1924) ''The life-work of Lord Avebury'', Watts & Co., London.
*Hutchinson H.G. (1914) ''Life of Sir John Lubbock, Lord Avebury'', London. Volume 1. 2
*Parsons, F.D. (2009) 'Thomas Hare and Political Representation in Victorian Britain' (Palgrave Macmillan)
* Patton M. (2007) ''Science, politics & business in the work of Sir John Lubbock – a man of universal mind'', Ashgate, London.
*Pearn, Alison (2014
"The teacher taught? What Charles Darwin owed to John Lubbock"
Notes Rec R Soc Lond. Mar 20; 68(1): 7–19.
*''Sir John Lubbock'' in ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', (Sixth Edition, 2001)
*Trigger B.G. (1989) ''A history of archaeological thought'', (revised 2006) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
*Kains-Jackson, C.P (1880) " ''Our Ancient Monuments and the Land Around them, with a preface by Sir John Lubbock''", Elliot Stock, London.
External links
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"John Lubbock— forgotten polymath"
by Phillip Steadman, ''New Scientist'', 10 January 1980, p. 84
Obituary
in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
St Lubbock's Days
A short biography of John Lubbock by Rupert Baker, Library Manager at the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, 27 April 2021
John Lubbock at Minnesota State University eMuseum
archived in 2006
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Avebury, John Lubbock, 1st Baron
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