Charles Blagden and Banksian Science, 1770-1820

This study will explore the eight-volume diary of Charles Blagden (1748-1820), physician, natural philosopher and secretary to the Royal Society between 1784 and 1797. Blagden's diary is a potentially rich source of information about the workings of English science, but has not been used by historians owing to its rather illegible handwriting. This project will involve transcribing a section of the diary, using it to explore the workings of the 'Banksian regime' in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century London, as well as opening up this key source for the use of historians.
Exploration of the diary will reveal perspectives on Blagden as well as Joseph Banks, who, despite his long tenure as president of the Society is relatively unknown in comparison to contemporaries. The diary will reveal the networks of personnel and institutions which Banks worked with to cultivate scientific activities, as well as key areas of research, such as the exploration of the Pacific between 1780 and 1820. The diary may also expose Blagden's role as a go-between among scientific and political protagonists during the period, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars.