In 1788, when the First Fleet set sail for Botany Bay carrying convicts to establish Britain's newest penal colony, the ships' cargo included more than just prisoners and provisions. Hidden among the essential supplies were small but strategically vital hemp seeds—Cannabis sativa—ordered specifically by Sir Joseph Banks, the renowned botanist and influential advisor to the British government.
The Hemp Imperative
To understand Banks' decision, one must appreciate hemp's extraordinary importance in the 18th century. Hemp was as strategic in the Age of Sail as oil is in our era. The fibrous plant formed the backbone of maritime power, essential for manufacturing the sails, ropes, and rigging that powered the world's navies and merchant fleets. To fit out a first-rate man-of-war required 80 tons of hemp for sails, cables and rigging, and to produce that much hemp 320 acres of Cannabis sativa had to be grown.
Britain's naval supremacy depended heavily on hemp imports from Russia, creating a dangerous vulnerability that worried military strategists. In 1786 Sir Charles Middleton, the Comptroller of the Navy, sent a letter to Prime Minister William Pitt saying "It is for hemp only we are dependent on Russia... as it is impracticable to carry on a Naval War without hemp it is materially necessary to promote the growth of it in this Country".
Banks' Vision for Australia
Sir Joseph Banks, already famous for his botanical discoveries during Captain Cook's first Pacific voyage, had become Britain's unofficial "presiding genius" of scientific and colonial affairs. Banks brings hemp seeds to Australia with the First Fleet. He wanted to utilise Australia's great land mass for Britain's own commercial production of hemp, which would power their naval fleets and economy.
Banks marked the hemp seeds as "for commerce", envisioning vast plantations across the continent's fertile lands. The blueprint for the New South Wales colony, approved by the British Cabinet in 1786, envisaged Australia as a commercial colony producing hemp.
The Hemp Colony Theory
Some historians, notably Dr. John Jiggens, argue that the settlement of Australia was for the purpose of hemp, and the convicts were a cover to mislead Britain's rivals. While this remains a matter of scholarly debate, the evidence suggests hemp production was certainly a significant motivation alongside the established narrative of creating a penal colony.
Banks was preoccupied with hemp supplies and alternatives to hemp, and Australia represented an ideal solution—a vast, fertile land under British control where hemp could be cultivated free from the geopolitical risks that threatened Russian supplies.
Early Success and Government Support
The hemp experiment initially showed promise. The government encouraged hemp farming for the next 150 years by giving grants and land, and in 1892, the Department of Agriculture distributed Cannabis sativa seeds to hundreds of farmers in New South Wales as an experiment in the cultivation of hemp due to the high prices of binding-twine at the time.
During this period, cannabis was used for both recreational and medicinal purposes, with 'Cigares de Joy' (cannabis cigarettes) sold over the counter well into the 20th century, claiming to give immediate relief from asthma, shortness of breath, influenza, bronchitis, and cough.
The End of an Era
However, Banks' grand hemp empire was ultimately undermined by technological progress rather than policy failure. The rise of steam power and coal gradually reduced the naval dependence on hemp sails and rigging. By the early 20th century, changing international attitudes toward cannabis—influenced by American prohibitionist movements—began to transform the plant from agricultural commodity to controlled substance.
The first attempt at banning cannabis was in the 1912 International Opium Convention, and by 1926, the Australian Capital Territory outlaws all forms of cannabis and hemp, with other states following suit throughout the following decades.
Legacy
Sir Joseph Banks' introduction of cannabis to Australia represents a fascinating intersection of botany, imperial strategy, and economic necessity. What began as a practical solution to naval supply chains became an integral part of Australian agriculture for over a century. The plant's journey from strategic imperial crop to prohibited substance reflects broader changes in technology, international relations, and social attitudes that shaped the modern world.
Today, as Australia again debates cannabis policy and hemp cultivation, Banks' original vision of Australia as a hemp-producing nation offers an intriguing historical perspective on a plant that once helped build an empire.