John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet, was born April 30, 1834, in London, England.

He was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist, and polymath. His father was Sir John Lubbock, 3rd Baronet (1803-1865), a London banker, student of mathematics and astronomy, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, keenly involved in the scientific debates. The family lived close to Charles Darwin, a great influence on young Lubbock's passion for science and evolutionary theory and a long-standing friend with whom he corresponded frequently. In 1845, he began his studies at Eton College. After finishing school, he was employed by his father's bank, becoming a partner at the age of 22. In 1865, he succeeded to the baronetcy. In the early 1870s, Lubbock became increasingly interested in politics and was elected as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone in 1870 and 1874. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of London (1872–1880). He was elected the first president of the Institute of Bankers in 1879 and in 1883, founded the Bank Clerks Orphanage, now known as the Bankers Benevolent fund. In 1888, he was made president of the London Chamber of Commerce. He was also a founding member of a group of 9 scientists, the X Club. In his books “Pre-historic Times” (1865), a textbook of archaeology, and in “The Origin of Civilization and the Primitive Condition of Man” (1870), he coined the terms Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) and Neolithic (New Stone Age). He also wrote, "Ants, Bees, and Wasps" (1882) and "On the Senses, Instincts, and Intelligence of Animals" (1888), which established him as a pioneer in the field of animal behaviour.

In 1856, he married Ellen Frances Hordern (1834–1879) and in 1884, he married Alice Augusta Laurentia Lane Fox-Pitt (1862–1947). He died on May 28, 1913, in Broadstairs, Kent, England.