Sir Joseph Banks (1743 – 1820) was an English naturalist and patron of science. In 1766, he studied the natural history of Newfoundland and Labrador on board HMS Niger [above, left & right]. With the botanist Daniel Solander, he accompanied James Cook aboard HMS Endeavour on his expedition to Tahiti, New Zealand, and the eastern coast of Australia (1768 – 1771). Their extensive collections brought to the attention of European science many previously unknown types of plants. Banks held the post of President of the Royal Society from 1778 for more than forty years until his death. He used his personal wealth to support researchers and fund expeditions, and developed Kew Gardens as a centre of botanical research.