John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury
Encyclopedia
John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury PC
(Privy Councilor), FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was a polymath
and Liberal
Member of Parliament.
He was a banker and worked with his family's company, but was also involved with entomology
, botany
, biology
, archaeology
, and ethnography
. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was also influential with nineteenth-century debates concerning evolutionary theory.
, a London banker, and was brought up in the family home of High Elms Estate
, near Downe
in Kent. During 1842 his father brought home a "great piece of news": the young Lubbock said later that he initially thought that the news might be of a new pony, and was disappointed to learn it was only that Charles Darwin
was moving to Down House
in the village. The youth was soon a frequent visitor to Down House, and became the closest of Darwin's younger friends. Their relationship stimulated young Lubbock's passion for science and evolutionary theory.
In 1845, Lubbock began studies at Eton College
, and after graduation was employed by his father's bank (which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co), for which he became a partner at the age of twenty-two.
In addition to his work at his father's bank, Lubbock took a keen interest in archaeology and evolutionary theory. He spoke in support of the evolutionist Thomas Henry Huxley at the famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate
. During the 1860s, he published many articles in which he used archaeological evidence to support Darwin's theory. In 1864, he became one of the founding members (along with Thomas Henry Huxley and others) of the elite X Club
, a dining club composed of nine gentlemen to promote the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism. In 1865 he succeeded to the baronetcy. During the 1860s he held a number of influential academic positions, including President of the Ethnological Society from 1864-5, Vice-President of Linnean Society in 1865, and President of the International Association for Prehistoric Archaeology in 1868. In 1865 he published Prehistoric Times, which became a standard archaeology textbook for the remainder of the century, with the seventh and final edition published in 1913.
His second book, On the Origin of Civilization, was published in 1870. During 1871, he purchased part of the Avebury estate to protect its prehistoric stone monuments from impending destruction. During the early 1870s, he held the position of President of the Royal Anthropological Society from 1871–73, as well as the position of Vice President of the Royal Society in 1871. During this period he worked with John Evans
, the other key figure in the establishment of the discipline of archaeology.
After the early 1870s, Lubbock became increasingly interested in political advocacy, business, and natural science. In 1870, and again in 1874, he was elected as a Liberal Party
Member of Parliament
(MP) for Maidstone
. As liberal MP for Maidstone, Kent, Lubbock had a distinguished political career, with four main political agendas: promotion of the study of science in primary and secondary schools; the national debt, free trade, and related economic issues; protection of ancient monuments; securing of additional holidays and shorter working hours for the working classes. He was successful with numerous enactments in parliament, including the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
and the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882
, along with another 28 acts of Parliament. When the Liberals split in 1886 on the issue of Irish Home Rule, Lubbock joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party
in opposition to Irish Home Rule.
In 1879 Lubbock was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers
. In 1881 he was president of the British Association
, and from 1881 to 1886 president of the Linnean Society of London
. In March 1883 he founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, which in 1986 became the Bankers Benevolent Fund - a charity for bank employees, past and present, and their dependents. In January 1884 he founded the Proportional Representation Society, later to become the Electoral Reform Society
.
In recognition of his contributions to the sciences, Lubbock received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford
, Cambridge
(where he was Rede lecturer in 1886), Edinburgh
, Dublin
and Würzburg
; and in 1878 was appointed a trustee of the British Museum
. From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce; from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council
.
In February 1890 he was appointed a privy councillor; and was chairman of the committee of design for the new coinage in 1891. In January 1900 he was promoted to the peerage
as Baron Avebury, his title commemorating the largest Stone Age site in Britain, which he had helped to preserve (he had purchased it in 1871 when the site was threatened with destruction). He was President of the Royal Statistical Society
from 1900 to 1902. He rebuilt Kingsgate Castle
, in Kent near Broadstairs.
The quotation, "We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth," is widely attributed to Lubbock. This variation appears in his book The Pleasures of Life.
to denote the Old and New Stone Age
s respectively. More notably, he introduced a Darwinian-type theory of human nature and development. "What was new was Lubbock's... insistence that, as a result of natural selection, human groups had become different from each other, not only culturally, but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture."
Lubbock complained in the preface about Charles Lyell:
Lubbock was also an amateur biologist of some distinction, writing books on hymenoptera
(Ants, Bees and Wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera. Kegan Paul, London; New York: Appleton, 1884.), on insect sense organs and development, on the intelligence of animals, and on other natural history topics.
He discovered that ants were sensitive to the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Punch verse of 1882 captured him perfectly:
He had extensive correspondence with Charles Darwin, who lived nearby in Downe. Lubbock stayed in Downe except for a brief period from 1861–1865, when he relocated to Chislehurst
. Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform
, and members of the Spelling reform
Association, precursor to the (Simplified) Spelling Society
. Darwin rented ground, originally from Lubbock's father, for the Sandwalk wood where he performed his daily exercise, and in 1874 agreed with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin's property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey
, organising a letter to the Dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearer
s.
played first-class cricket
for Kent
. Edgar and Alfred also played football and played together for Old Etonians
in the 1875 FA Cup Final.
Lubbock's first wife was Ellen Frances Horden, who died in 1879. Five years later he married Alice Lane Fox, the daughter of Pitt-Rivers.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
(Privy Councilor), FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was a polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament.
He was a banker and worked with his family's company, but was also involved with entomology
Entomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
, botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, and ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
. He helped establish archaeology as a scientific discipline, and was also influential with nineteenth-century debates concerning evolutionary theory.
Life
John Lubbock was born in 1834, the son of Sir John Lubbock, 3rd BaronetSir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet
Sir John William Lubbock, 3rd Baronet was an English banker, barrister, mathematician and astronomer.He was born in Westminster, the son of Sir John William Lubbock, of the Lubbock & Co bank. He was educated at Eton and then Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1825...
, a London banker, and was brought up in the family home of High Elms Estate
High Elms Country Park
High Elms Country Park is an extensive public park on the North Downs in Farnborough in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a Local Nature Reserve, and together with the neighbouring Downe Bank, a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The park surrounds High Elms Golf Course, and has extensive...
, near Downe
Downe
Downe is a village in the London Borough of Bromley in London, UK.Downe is south west of Orpington and south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies in a wooded valley, and much of the centre of the village is unchanged; the former village school now acts as the village hall.-Darwin:Charles Darwin...
in Kent. During 1842 his father brought home a "great piece of news": the young Lubbock said later that he initially thought that the news might be of a new pony, and was disappointed to learn it was only that Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
was moving to Down House
Down House
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection which he had conceived in London before moving to Downe....
in the village. The youth was soon a frequent visitor to Down House, and became the closest of Darwin's younger friends. Their relationship stimulated young Lubbock's passion for science and evolutionary theory.
In 1845, Lubbock began studies at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, and after graduation was employed by his father's bank (which later amalgamated with Coutts & Co), for which he became a partner at the age of twenty-two.
In addition to his work at his father's bank, Lubbock took a keen interest in archaeology and evolutionary theory. He spoke in support of the evolutionist Thomas Henry Huxley at the famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate
1860 Oxford evolution debate
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at the Oxford University Museum on 30 June 1860, seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Several prominent British scientists and philosophers participated, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Bishop Samuel...
. During the 1860s, he published many articles in which he used archaeological evidence to support Darwin's theory. In 1864, he became one of the founding members (along with Thomas Henry Huxley and others) of the elite X Club
X Club
The X Club was a dining club of nine men who supported the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism in late 19th-century England. Thomas Henry Huxley was the initiator: he called the first meeting for November 3, 1864...
, a dining club composed of nine gentlemen to promote the theories of natural selection and academic liberalism. In 1865 he succeeded to the baronetcy. During the 1860s he held a number of influential academic positions, including President of the Ethnological Society from 1864-5, Vice-President of Linnean Society in 1865, and President of the International Association for Prehistoric Archaeology in 1868. In 1865 he published Prehistoric Times, which became a standard archaeology textbook for the remainder of the century, with the seventh and final edition published in 1913.
His second book, On the Origin of Civilization, was published in 1870. During 1871, he purchased part of the Avebury estate to protect its prehistoric stone monuments from impending destruction. During the early 1870s, he held the position of President of the Royal Anthropological Society from 1871–73, as well as the position of Vice President of the Royal Society in 1871. During this period he worked with John Evans
John Evans (archaeologist)
Sir John Evans, KCB, FRS was an English archaeologist and geologist.-Biography:John Evans was the son of the Rev. Dr A. B. Evans, headmaster of Market Bosworth Grammar School, and was born at Britwell Court, Buckinghamshire...
, the other key figure in the establishment of the discipline of archaeology.
After the early 1870s, Lubbock became increasingly interested in political advocacy, business, and natural science. In 1870, and again in 1874, he was elected as a Liberal Party
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Maidstone
Maidstone (UK Parliament constituency)
Maidstone was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The parliamentary borough of Maidstone returned two Members of Parliament from 1552 until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member...
. As liberal MP for Maidstone, Kent, Lubbock had a distinguished political career, with four main political agendas: promotion of the study of science in primary and secondary schools; the national debt, free trade, and related economic issues; protection of ancient monuments; securing of additional holidays and shorter working hours for the working classes. He was successful with numerous enactments in parliament, including the Bank Holidays Act of 1871
Bank Holidays Act 1871
The Bank Holidays Act 1871 established the first Bank Holidays in the United Kingdom.The Act designated four Bank Holidays in England, Wales and Ireland , and five in Scotland .In...
and the Ancient Monuments Act of 1882
Ancient Monuments Act of 1882
The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland . It was introduced by Sir John Lubbock, 1st Baronet, recognising the need for a governmental administration on the protection of ancient monuments, was finally passed after a...
, along with another 28 acts of Parliament. When the Liberals split in 1886 on the issue of Irish Home Rule, Lubbock joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party
Liberal Unionist Party
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
in opposition to Irish Home Rule.
In 1879 Lubbock was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers
Institute of Bankers
The ifs School of Finance, founded in 1879 as the Institute of Bankers, is a registered educational charity incorporated by Royal Charter...
. In 1881 he was president of the British Association
British Association for the Advancement of Science
frame|right|"The BA" logoThe British Association for the Advancement of Science or the British Science Association, formerly known as the BA, is a learned society with the object of promoting science, directing general attention to scientific matters, and facilitating interaction between...
, and from 1881 to 1886 president of the Linnean Society of London
Linnean Society of London
The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...
. In March 1883 he founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, which in 1986 became the Bankers Benevolent Fund - a charity for bank employees, past and present, and their dependents. In January 1884 he founded the Proportional Representation Society, later to become the Electoral Reform Society
Electoral Reform Society
The Electoral Reform Society is a political pressure group based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It is believed to be the oldest organisation concerned with electoral systems in the world.-Aims:...
.
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(where he was Rede lecturer in 1886), Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Dublin
University of Dublin
The University of Dublin , corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin , located in Dublin, Ireland, was effectively founded when in 1592 Queen Elizabeth I issued a charter for Trinity College, Dublin, as "the mother of a university" – this date making it...
and Würzburg
University of Würzburg
The University of Würzburg is a university in Würzburg, Germany, founded in 1402. The university is a member of the distinguished Coimbra Group.-Name:...
; and in 1878 was appointed a trustee of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. From 1888 to 1892 he was president of the London Chamber of Commerce; from 1889 to 1890 vice-chairman and from 1890 to 1892 chairman of the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
.
In February 1890 he was appointed a privy councillor; and was chairman of the committee of design for the new coinage in 1891. In January 1900 he was promoted to the peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Avebury, his title commemorating the largest Stone Age site in Britain, which he had helped to preserve (he had purchased it in 1871 when the site was threatened with destruction). He was President of the Royal Statistical Society
President of the Royal Statistical Society
The President of the Royal Statistical Society is the head of the Royal Statistical Society , elected biannually by the Fellows of the Society. ....
from 1900 to 1902. He rebuilt Kingsgate Castle
Kingsgate Castle
Kingsgate Castle on the cliffs above Kingsgate Bay, Broadstairs, Kent was built for Lord Holland in the 1760s. The name Kingsgate is related to an incidental landing of Charles II on 30 June 1683 though other English monarchs have also used this cove, such as George II in 1748...
, in Kent near Broadstairs.
The quotation, "We may sit in our library and yet be in all quarters of the earth," is widely attributed to Lubbock. This variation appears in his book The Pleasures of Life.
Lubbock in biology and archaeology
In 1865 Lubbock published what was possibly the most influential archaeological text book of the 19th century, Pre-historic times, as illustrated by ancient remains, and the manners and customs of modern savages. He invented the terms Palaeolithic and NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
to denote the Old and New Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
s respectively. More notably, he introduced a Darwinian-type theory of human nature and development. "What was new was Lubbock's... insistence that, as a result of natural selection, human groups had become different from each other, not only culturally, but also in their biological capacities to utilize culture."
Lubbock complained in the preface about Charles Lyell:
- "Note.—In his celebrated work on the Antiquity of Man, Sir Charles Lyell has made much use of my earlier articles in the Natural History Review, frequently, indeed, extracting whole sentences verbatim, or nearly so. But as he has in these cases omitted to mention the source from which his quotations were derived, my readers might naturally think that I had taken very unjustifiable liberties with the work of the eminent geologist. A reference to the respective dates will, however, protect me from any such inference. The statement made by Sir Charles Lyell, in a note to page 11 of his work, that my article on the Danish Shell-mounds was published after Ms sheets were written, is an inadvertence, regretted, I have reason to believe, as much by its author as it is by me." Preface to Pre-historic times.
Lubbock was also an amateur biologist of some distinction, writing books on hymenoptera
Hymenoptera
Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...
(Ants, Bees and Wasps: a record of observations on the habits of the social hymenoptera. Kegan Paul, London; New York: Appleton, 1884.), on insect sense organs and development, on the intelligence of animals, and on other natural history topics.
He discovered that ants were sensitive to the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Punch verse of 1882 captured him perfectly:
- How doth the Banking Busy Bee
- Improve his shining Hours?
- By studying on Bank Holidays
- Strange insects and Wild Flowers!
Chislehurst
Chislehurst is a suburban district in south-east London, England, and an electoral ward of the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
. Both men were active advocates of English spelling reform
English spelling reform
For hundreds of years, many groups and individuals have advocated spelling reform for English. Spelling reformers seek to make English spelling more consistent and more phonetic, so that spellings match pronunciations and follow the alphabetic principle....
, and members of the Spelling reform
Spelling reform
Many languages have undergone spelling reform, where a deliberate, often officially sanctioned or mandated, change to spelling takes place. Proposals for such reform are also common....
Association, precursor to the (Simplified) Spelling Society
Simplified Spelling Society
The English Spelling Society is an international organisation, based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1908 as the Simplified Spelling Society and celebrated its Centenary Conference at Coventry University in June 2008...
. Darwin rented ground, originally from Lubbock's father, for the Sandwalk wood where he performed his daily exercise, and in 1874 agreed with Lubbock to exchange the land for a piece of pasture in Darwin's property. When Darwin died in 1882, Lubbock suggested the honour of burial in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, organising a letter to the Dean to arrange this, and was one of the pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
s.
Family
Lubbock was one of eight brothers and one sister; three brothers, Alfred, Nevile and EdgarEdgar Lubbock
Edgar Lubbock LLB was an English amateur footballer who twice won the FA Cup, and later became a partner in the Whitbread Brewery, a Director of the Bank of England and the Master of the Blankney Foxhounds....
played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
for Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
. Edgar and Alfred also played football and played together for Old Etonians
Old Etonians F.C.
The Old Etonians Football Club is an English football club whose players are taken from previous attendees of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.-History:...
in the 1875 FA Cup Final.
Lubbock's first wife was Ellen Frances Horden, who died in 1879. Five years later he married Alice Lane Fox, the daughter of Pitt-Rivers.
External links
- Obituary
- Electoral Reform Society
- Wikiquote
- Lubbock, J., Addresses, Political and Educational (1879)
- Lubbock, J., Monograph of the Collembola and Thysanura (1879)
- John Lubbock at Minnesota State University eMuseum
- John Lubbock at bartleby.com
- Lubbock J. Pre-historic times (1865) http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xHo-AAAAIAAJ&dq=Lubbock+%22Pre-historic+times%22&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=Y6NzNtVwRB&sig=-gHXOUWnF1CT8N7XN_gd5o6ZzkM&hl=en&ei=DY76SufFNOefjAe1i62xBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- portrait
- Cricket career on Cricket Archive