William Banks (19 April 1719 – September 1761) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and 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 naturalist. He was also a Member of Parliament for six years, and from 1733 to 1741 was known as William Hodgkinson.

Life

Banks was the younger son of politician

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 ...

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 Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. After being educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

he entered 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 1736 to study law. In 1741 he was elected as one of the two Members of Parliament for

Grampound Grampound ( kw, Ponsmeur) is a village in Cornwall, England. It is at an ancient crossing point of the River Fal and today is on the A390 road west of St Austell and east of Truro.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 ''Truro & Falmouth'' ...

, sitting until 1747. He was unable to seek re-election after the loss of the use of his legs, due to an illness in 1745. Banks married Sarah, the daughter of William Bate of Derbyshire, with whom he had a son,

the famous naturalist, and a daughter. He succeeded his wife's grandfather in 1733, adopting the name of Hodgkinson, but reverted to Banks on succeeding his own father in 1741, his elder brother Joseph having died the year before.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Joseph 1719 births 1761 deaths People from East Lindsey District Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1741–1747