Banks, Sir Joseph


Banks, Sir Joseph

(1743–1820) naturalist who sailed with Captain James Cook to the Pacific and collected extensively, particularly plants. He financed his own expeditions and became unofficial director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Under his direction Kew became the most famous botanical garden in the world. His plant and entomological collections are in the British Museum and over 1400 of his books are in the British Library.