Address of Sir Everard Home, 1st Baronet Home, 1822-1825

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The Hunterian Oration in honour of surgery … instituted in honour of John Hunter, delivered in the theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons in London by Sir Everard Home, London, 1822. (printed, 36pp)

The subject of Home's oration was Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), the President of the Royal Society from 1778 to 1820. The oration refers to Banks's early life, the origins of his interest in natural history, his time at Oxford University, James Cook's voyage to the Pacific, incidents at Tahiti and the Great Barrier Reef not recorded in the published voyage, Banks's withdrawal from Cook's second voyage, his abandonment of hopes of being an author following the death of Daniel Solander, his interest in the Royal College of Surgeons, and his public services. Home called Banks 'the greatest patron of science in Europe'.

A one page typescript accompanying the oration is based on notes collected by the Oxford astronomer Stephen P. Rigaud in conversation with Everard Home on 10 October 1825. The original notes are in volume 45 of the Rigaud Papers in the Bodleian Library (MS 26245). In one of his references to the Oration, Home apparently claimed that in 1772 he had planned to accompany Banks on Cook's second voyage to the Pacific. Following a major disagreement between Cook and Banks concerning the fitting out of HMS Resolution, the latter withdrew from the expedition.

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