Edward Banks (1796 - 1851) was one of the leading figures of the Free City of Hamburg in the mid 19th century, holding the office of Syndicus from 1837 until his death in 1851.

[1] After service in the Hanseatic militia at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he studied law and political science at the universities of Göttingen, Berlin and Jena and received a doctorate in September 1819.

After the great fire of 1842, he brought about the construction of new buildings and the establishment of exemplary drainage and water supply facilities.

From 1848, Banks took up a number of diplomatic posts and was Hamburg's representative at the Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt am Main.

As a result of the exhausting activity of these turbulent years, Banks had to seek a milder climate in the autumn of 1851 to restore his health, but died on 17 December at Veytaux near Vevey on the eastern shore of Lake Geneva.