Discuss the connection between natural history and political

economy in Britain in the second half of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century.

Sir Joseph Banks

• Political Links– The Earl of Sandwich– George III – William Pitt– Earls of Liverpool

Sir Joseph Banks• Kew Botanical Gardens– 1759– Sovereignty through plants– Economic power expressed through botany

• Patriotism– Agriculture as an ‘improver’ of the nation– Enclosure– Protectionism and support of landed interests– Conflict with France

Centres of Calculation

• Networks• Patronage of Exploration• Accumulation of knowledge and familiarity

with foreignness• Merchants and trading used to expand

knowledge of natural history

British Empire

• Making best use of the land– Better educated to make better use of it– Transferring plants for wider cultivation

• Tea Cultivation• Trade to Colonisation– Economic Dominance

Knowledge and Power

• Botany as diplomatic currency– Gift giving

• Cost of collecting novelties contributes to dignity of crown and standing of the country

The 19th Century

• Individual influence in data accumulation narrowed

• Nationalisation of culture and rationalisation of government

• Banks’ collections eventually passed to the British Museum

• Natural history and science remained prominent

Sweet blooms the rose, the towering oak expands, the grace and guard of Britain’s golden lands.