Person

Parkinson, Sydney (1745? - 1771)

Born
1745?
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died
26 January 1771
at sea
Occupation
Natural history artist

Summary

Sydney Parkinson was one of the foremost natural history artists of his time. As a young man he moved from Edinburgh to London and soon established a reputation for his artistic skills. He became acquainted with Joseph Banks, working on some of the material Banks collected during his visit to Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1768 Parkinson was appointed by Banks to his scientific entourage for the voyage of H.M.B. Endeavour to the south seas under the command of James Cook. During the voyage, in cramped conditions, Parkinson made over 1,300 illustrations of specimens collected by Banks and naturalist Daniel Solander. In addition, after the early death of topographical draughtsman Alexander Buchan, Parkinson assumed those duties. Parkinson died at sea after Endeavour left Batavia on the way home, one of nearly 30 members of the expedition who succumbed to dysentery.

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Details

Chronology

1768 - January 1771
Career position - Natural history artist to Joseph Banks on board H.M.B. Endeavour

Related Cultural Objects

Related People

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Sydney Parkinson - Records, 1759 - 1768; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Britten, J., Illustrations of Australian Plants Collected in 1770 During Captain Cook's Voyage (London: 1905). Details
  • Carr, Denis J., Sydney Parkinson: artist of Cook's Endeavour voyage (Canberra: British Museum (Natural History) in association with Australian National University Press, 1983), 300 pp. Details
  • Joppien, Rudiger and Smith, Bernard, The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages: Volume 1 - the Voyage of the 'Endeavour' 1768-1771 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985), 262 pp. Details
  • Parkinson, Sydney, A journal of a voyage to the South Seas, in His Majesty's ship, the Endeavour, faithfully transcribed from the papers of the late Sydney Parkinson (...) (London: Printed for Stanfield Parkinson, the editor, 1773), 212 pp. Details
  • Rienits, Rex and Rienits, Thea, Early Artists of Australia (Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1963), 246 pp. Details
  • Wrigley, J.; and Fagg, M., Eucalypts: a Celebration (Crows Nest Australia: Allen & Unwin, 2010), 344 pp. Details

Book Sections

Edited Books

  • Diment, Judith A.; Humphries, Christopher J.; Newington, Linda and Shaughnessy, Elaine eds, British Museum (Natural History), Catalogue of the Natural History Drawings Commissioned by Joseph Banks on the Endeavour Voyage 1768-1771, held in the British Museum (Natural History). Part 1, Botany, Australia (London: The Museum, 1984), 183 pp, https://doi.org/10.5962/p.310430. Details

Journal Articles

  • Andrews, John Robert Haydon, 'The East Coast of the North Island: Zoological Collections of the Endeavour Voyage', Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 42 (2) (2012), 139-44. Details
  • Colenso, W., 'Manibus parkinsonibus sacrum: a brief memoir of the first artist who visited New Zealand, together with several little-known items of interest extracted from his journal', Transactions and proceedings of the New Zealand Institute, 10 (1878), 108-34. Details
  • Lysaght, A., 'Captain Cook's Kangaroo', New Scientist, 1 (1957). Details
  • Sawyer, F. C., 'Some Natural History Drawings Made During Cook's First Voyage', Society for Bibliography of Natural History Journal, 2 (1949). Details
  • Sox, David, 'Sydney Parkinson (1745-1771): Quaker artist with Cook's Endeavour voyage', Journal of the Friends Historical Society, 59 (3) (2002), 213-5. Details
  • Wheeler, Alwyn, 'Catalogue of the natural history drawings commissioned by Joseph Banks on the Endeavour voyage (1768 - 1771) held in the British Museum (Natural History), part 3: zoology', Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), historical series, 13 (1986), 1-172, https://doi.org/105962/p.310432. Details

Resources

See also

  • Beaglehole, J. C., The Endeavour journal of Joseph Banks : 1768 - 1771, 2 vols (Sydney: Trustees of the Public Library of New South Wales in association with Angus and Robertson, 1963). Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023

EOAS ID: biogs/P000692b.htm

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260