104

HISTORY OF

[ 1775 — 80 .

was descended from an ancient and wealthy family,established since the reign of Edward III. , first inthe West Riding of Yorkshire, and afterwards in Lin-colnshire , where they possessed large estates fromthe end of the seventeenth century; and a consider-able accession of fortune came to them early in theeighteenth, by marriage with an heiress in Derby-shire, named Hodgkinson, whose estates were severedfrom those in Lincolnshire until 1792, when thewhole fortune united in the person of Sir Joseph.He was the only son of Mr. William Banks, whosefather had been sheriff of Lincolnshire , and repre-sented Peterborough in Parliament for some years.

Sir Joseph received his early education from aprivate tutor at Revesby, in Lincolnshire , the seat ofhis father. When nine years old, he was sent toHarrow; and from thence to Eton , where, it is stated,he at first evinced a much greater fondness for activesports, than for study. Here it was that he acquiredhis love for botany, which gave a new current tohis thoughts, and suddenly turned the youth into astudious man. This happy change, as he after-wards explained to Sir Everard Home , was thus occa-sioned :

“ One fine evening he had been bathing withother boys, but having remained a long time in thewater, he found, when he had dressed, all his com-panions had gone home. He proceeded leisurelyalong a lane, the sides of which were richly enamelledwith flowers. These attracted his attention, and gaz-ing earnestly at them, he involuntarily exclaimed,How beautiful; and, after some reflection, added, Itis surely more natural that I should be taught toknow all these productions of nature, in preference