Joseph Bancroft (21 February 1836 – 16 June 1894) was a

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

and

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

born in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, who emigrated to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia.

Early life

Bancroft was born in

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

, near

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, the only son of Joseph Bancroft, a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

, and his wife Mary, ''née'' Lane. He took a five-year apprenticeship with Dr Jeremiah Renshaw at Sale in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He later studied at the Manchester Royal School of Medicine and Surgery (M.R.C.S., L.S.A., 1859), where he won several prizes. He took his medical degree at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

in 1859 and later became a member of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations ...

. He practised at

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

until 1864, then emigrated to

after being advised a warmer climate would improve his health.

Career in Australia

Bancroft arrived in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on 29 October 1864, having travelled on the ''Lady Young'' as a surgeon. After a short holiday he began to practise in a residential quarter of

, and soon became a respected

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

. He was an early tenant of the (now heritage-listed) Athol Place on

Wickham Terrace Wickham Terrace is one of the historic streets of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is known as the street of private medical specialists. Geography Wickham Terrace commences at the western corner of the intersection of Ann Street, Brisbane, ...

in Spring Hill. In 1867 he was appointed visiting surgeon at the

Brisbane General Hospital The Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is a tertiary public hospital located in Herston, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is operated by Metro North Health, part of the Queensland Health network. The hospital has 929 be ...

and became house surgeon in 1868. He resumed practice at Carlton in

in 1870, found himself in much demand, but contrived to do a good deal of research. He was the discoverer of the medical properties of ''Duboisia myoporoides'', which was afterwards largely used in ophthalmic surgery. In 1872 he investigated the properties of ''

Duboisia hopwoodii ''Duboisia hopwoodii'' is a shrub native to the arid interior region of Australia. Common names include pituri, pitchuri thornapple or pitcheri. Description The species has an erect habit, usually growing to between 1 and 3 metres in height, wit ...

'' a common ingredient in the eastern Australian variety of the native chewing mixture,

pituri Pituri, also known as mingkulpa, is a mixture of leaves and wood ash traditionally chewed as a stimulant (or, after extended use, a depressant) by Australian Aboriginal, Aboriginal Australians widely across the continent. Leaves are gathered fro ...

. In 1877 he travelled to the East,

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, supposedly on

holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

, however he could not refrain from studying

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

s peculiar to each country. Wuchereria bancrofti LifeCycle

After Bancroft's return from his travels, he carried on a large practice and, in addition to his scientific research on medical problems, developed his interest in economic

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. He made many experiments to obtain a rust-proof

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, showed great interest in

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

and the culture of

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but no ...

s, studied the diseases of the

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

and

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

, and invented a preparation of

pemmican Pemmican () (also pemican in older sources) is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigeno ...

or desiccated beef. The medical properties of numerous native plants were investigated; he prepared a

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a Hardcover, hard cover or Bookbinding, binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' ...

, ''Contribution to Pharmacy from Queensland'', for the 1886 colonial and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n exhibition held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1888 Bancroft reluctantly joined the

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

to investigate the rabbit problem. Shortly before his death he was on the sub-committee appointed by the Medical Society of Queensland to assist in the revision of the British

Pharmacopoeia A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (or the typographically obsolete rendering, ''pharmacopœia''), meaning "drug-making", in its modern technical sense, is a reference work containing directions for the identification of compound med ...

. He made important researches in

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

and became well known through his studies in filaria disease; he was the discoverer of the mature parasite '' Filaria bancrofti'' and was one of the first to suggest it was borne by

mosquito Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a Family (biology), family of small Diptera, flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by ''Musca (fly), mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mos ...

es. Bancroft was a leading scientist of his period in Queensland. He was at various times vice-president of the

Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

, president of the Queensland Medical Board, of the

Royal Society of Queensland The Royal Society of Queensland was formed in Queensland, Australia in 1884 from the Queensland Philosophical Society, Queensland's oldest scientific institution, with royal patronage granted in 1885. The aim of the Society is "Progressing scie ...

and the Medical Society of Queensland.

Later life

Bancroft died suddenly in Ann Street, Brisbane on 16 June 1894, he was survived by his wife, a daughter and a son, Dr.

Thomas Lane Bancroft Thomas Lane Bancroft (2 January 1860 – 12 November 1933) was an Australian medical naturalist. Based in Queensland, he is known for his research on mosquito-borne diseases such as filariasis, the lifecyle of the Australian lungfish, and new cr ...

(1860–1933), who also did valuable scientific work.

Legacy

The main building of the

Queensland Institute of Medical Research The QIMR Berghofer, formerly the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, is an Australian medical research institute and statutory authority located at the Herston Health Precinct in Brisbane, Queensland. The institute was established in 194 ...

is named the Bancroft Centre in honour of Bancroft's role as the key figure in establishing medical research in Queensland. The

electoral district of Bancroft Bancroft is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It was created in the 2017 redistribution. It is named after pioneer doctor Joseph Bancroft. Located in the City of Moreton Bay, Bancroft cons ...

created in the 2017 Queensland state electoral redistribution was named after him. There is a monument to Joseph Bancroft and his son Thomas Lane Bancroft in Bancroft Park, Captain Cook Parade, Deception Bay (). It was unveiled on Sunday 21 July 1963 by the Queensland branch of the

Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an independent professional association for Australian physician, doctors and medical school#Medical students, medical students. The association is not a government authority and does not regulate or ...

, the

Caboolture Shire Council The Shire of Caboolture was a local government area located in the Australian state of Queensland on the northern urban fringe of the capital, Brisbane, and south of the Sunshine Coast. The Shire covered an area of , of which approximately o ...

, and the Caboolture Historical Society. Several

streets Streets is the plural of street, a type of road. Streets or The Streets may also refer to: Music * Streets (band), a rock band fronted by Kansas vocalist Steve Walsh * ''Streets'' (punk album), a 1977 compilation album of various early UK punk ba ...

have been named after Bancroft including Bancroft Terrace and Joseph Crescent in Deception Bay, and Bancroft Street in Kelvin Grove. The papers of Dr Joseph Bancroft and his son are held by the State Library of Queensland.

References

*
Queensland Institute of Medical Research History
*M. Josephine Mackerras,

,

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, Volume 3, MUP, 1969, pp 84–85.

External links

Dr Joseph Bancroft and Dr Thomas Lane Bancroft Papers

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...