Series 90: Correspondence and memoranda concerning Banks' Lincolnshire estates including Revesby Abbey, 1790 - 1808, undated

series

1002245

81 items of textual material

The great grandfather of Sir Joseph Banks, Joseph Banks I, purchasedRevesby Abbey estate, near Boston in the county of Lincolnshire,in March 1714. His son Joseph Banks II became the first masterof Revesby Abbey the following year in August.

The will of Joseph Banks I settled the estate on his son Josephand descendants. Revesby Abbey eventually passed to the eldestsurviving son of Joseph Banks II, William Banks-Hodgkinson, inturn the father of Sir Joseph Banks. Sir Joseph and his wife LadyDorothea, travelled to Lincolnshire, usually to Revesby Abbeyand stayed for some months almost every year of their marriedlife, mostly in the company of Banks' unmarried sister, SarahSophia.

Banks' concerns in Lincolnshire related not only to his own estates.He was also involved in passing various Acts of Parliament forinclosures and drainage of fens, the establishment and organisationof the Supplemental Militia, the subscription initiated by Banksfor the defence of the Lincolnshire coastline during the NapoleonicWars, as well as his usual interests in agriculture, stock breeding,fruit and vegetable cultivation, botany, zoology and archaeology.

Most of the documents in this series were previously located atML MSS 743/1-3. Document 81, located at ML MSS 743/1, was acquiredfor the Mitchell Library from the London bookseller Francis Edwardsin December 1946.

Documents 4-5, 12, 14-15, 17, 19-20, 22-23, 25-59, 72-73 and 76-77were located at ML MSS 743/2. They were acquired for the Libraryfrom Maggs Brothers in London, in December 1946

Documents 1-3, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 60-71 and 79-80 were previouslylocated at ML MSS 743/3. They were acquired for the Library fromMaggs Brothers in London in October 1946.

Documents 6, 10, 75 and 78 were previously located at ML A81.They are part of an accession of Banks papers purchased by thePublic Library of New South Wales from Sotheby's, London, in May1929.

Document 65, previously located at ML A80-2, was purchased in1884 from Lord Brabourne by Sir Saul Samuel, the Agent-Generalfor New South Wales. It was transferred to the Mitchell Libraryin 1910 and was part of the accession which became known as theBrabourne collection.

Document 74, previously located at ML C181, was acquired for theLibrary from Angus Robertson in February 1911.

Documents 7, 8, 9 were received from an unknown source.