Patronage Networks and the Afterlives of James Cook, c. 1770–1820

Abstract This article examines the longevity of interpersonal ties in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Britain, and their impact on the structure of social networks incorporating individuals separated by rank. Using the example of a protracted patronage relationship involving the explorer James Cook, his family, and the wealthy naturalist and president of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks, it shows how social ties formed in life continued to exert an influence on behaviour when a key member of a network was dead. Cook, who died in 1779, remained associated with Banks many years later, the consequence of a powerful and recognized bond combining qualities of friendship and patronage. This bond motivated appeals to Banks to assist Cook’s impoverished family, initiating an affair with which this article is concerned, and whose granular study illuminates the operation of genteel norms conditioning lasting interpersonal ties. In showing the representative value of this case, the article tracks actions motivated variously by friendship, kinship, and patronage, demonstrating how they unfolded across time and in surrogate fashion.