Sir Joseph Banks was born at Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire, and educated at Harrow and later Eton and Christ Church College, Oxford. Banks took an early interest in botany and other fields of natural history. By 1766 his knowledge had already been recognized, at the age of 23, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His influence with Lord Sandwich, first Lord of the Admiralty and the fortune he had inherited on the death of his father enabled him to travel at his own expense with Captain Cook on his first great voyage to the South Seas. The expedition set sail from Plymouth in the Endeavour on 25th August 1768, rounding Cape Horn on January 27th and reaching Taihiti ten weeks later. From here they continued to New Zealand, where they became the first Europeans to set foot on New Zealand soil. After six months exploration, during which they gathered botanical samples and studied Maori life, they proceeded to Australia, landing at Botany Bay, so named on account of the profusion of plants discovered by Banks and Dr. Solander, his friend and librarian. Ten years later on the arrival of Captain Phillips, the first Governor, in 1788, Banks became an unoffical advisor to him and successive governors. He championed many causes relating to the new colony and many plants and animals dicovered by him bear his name and it is often suggested that he was the founder of Australia.

Banks' achievements in the field of natural history were so immense that he was chosen as successor to Sir Joseph Pringle, President of Royal Society who died in 1777. He held this position until his death in 1820. Banks is not widely known for his publications which were relatively few in number but included a small work on Merino sheep, an interest he shared with George III. His library and collections were vast and access was freely given to scientists of every nationality. He was created a Baronet in 1781, invested with The Order of the Bath on 1st July 1795.

The column after which this centrepiece is modelled was erected by Sir Francis Dashwood near Nocton Hall, Norfolk, in 1751 as a land lighthouse to guide travellers on the Lincoln to Sleaford road through an area notorious for highwaymen. The column was topped by a lantern and inscribed 'Hanc Utilitati Publicae D.D.D.F. Dashwood M.DCC.LI. Sir Francis Dashwood Bt., a founder member of the Society of the Diletanti and the Lincoln Club, built many improving features both on his estates in Lincolnshire and Buckinghamshire estate West Wycombe Park. The column was later adapted in 1810, by Robert, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire, who then owned Nocton Hall and the surrounding estate. He used the column to support a fifteen foot high statue of George III commemorating the Golden Jubilee of the monarch. The figure was of Coade stone, modelled by the firms chief modeller, Joseph Panzetta (d.1830). The mason for the work, John Willson, tragically he fell from the column whilst erecting the statue and was killed. His tombstone in Harmston Churchyard bears the verse,
'He who erected the noble King
Is here now laid by Death's sharp sting.'
The column and statue stood until 1940 when it was decided that they formed a danger to aircraft from a nearby airfield. Therefore the statue and partof the column were knocked off. The statue, now in fragments, was preserved and is now in the Museum of Lincolnshire Life. However when the statue was restored it was decided to reconstruct only the top third in bust form. Nocton Hall and Banks' house, Revesby Abbey, were only some twelve miles apart and it is probable that Banks admired the column and used it as the model for this centrepiece. It is possible that he knew The Earl because of his work in the Colonial Office as Secretary of State for the Colonial and War Department from 1804. The capital of Tasmania was named after him, Hobart being the family name.

Another statuette of George III, by Paul Storr, of 1812, is in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (see A. G. Grimwade, The Queen's Silver, 1953, p.104)