The Banks family

Abstract

A collection of papers recently purchased by the Society ii brings to light some interesting information about the ancestors of Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S. from 1778 to 1820. The family appears originally to have come from Yorkshire. In the first half of the seventeenth century Robert Banks was a man of substance in Giggleswick. He had two sons—Joseph and Hamond. The former, born in 1665, was articled in 1681 to Thomas Chappell, attorney, of Sheffield ; of the latter nothing is known. Joseph Banks I built up a flourishing legal practice, and in the sixteen/nineties (the exact date is not known) went to live at Scofton in Nottinghamshire. In 1701 he was appointed steward of the manors of the Lady Mary Howard of W orksop; and he is later found acting in a similar capacity for the Duchess of Newcastle. W ith a good deal of pride he records in 1703 how he ‘ had the Duchess of Norfolk and her retinue at my house/ He sat as a member of Parliament for Grimsby from 1714/5 to 1721/2, and for Totnes from 1721/2 to 1727. A bout 1708 Joseph Banks I began to consider the purchase of an estate in Lincolnshire, and he eventually decided to buy Revesby Abbey, an old Cistercian foundation which was then in a ruinous state. The masons were put to work, the old abbey thoroughly reconstructed, and in 1713 the Banks’ possessions were taken there 'by sea.'