George Linnaeus Banks (2 March 1821 – 3 May 1881) was a British journalist, editor, poet, playwright, amateur actor, orator, and Methodist.
George was born in Birmingham, the son of a seedsman familiar with the plant nomenclature of Linnaeus.
After a brief experience in a variety of trades, in his late teens George Banks became a contributor to various newspapers, and subsequently a playwright, being the author of plays, burlesques and lyrics.
Between 1848 and 1864 he edited in succession a variety of newspapers, including the Birmingham Mercury and the Daily Express of Dublin.
Some of his more popular lines were frequently used by platform and pulpit orators, notably his lyrical What I Live For: George Banks died of cancer and pneumonia in Dalston, Hackney, close to London, and is buried nearby at Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington, with his wife, the author Isabella Banks.