Sir Thomas Baines, M.D. (1622–1680) was an English physician, the lifelong companion of the ambassador Sir John Finch, M.D.

Life

Baines was born about 1622 in

Whaddon, Cambridgeshire Whaddon is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, north of Royston. History The parish of Whaddon covers an area of . Its entire western boundary follows the Roman Ermine Street (now the A1198), separating it from Bassing ...

and educated at Bishop's Stortford school. He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge under the tuition of

Henry More Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school. Biography Henry was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of Alexander More, mayor of Gran ...

, and took the degree of B.A. in 1642, and M.A. in 1649. An accident brought him under the notice of John Finch, then at the same college, and from this time they became inseparable friends. Having accompanied Finch to Italy, Baines was created doctor of physic at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, and he received the same degree from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

on his return to England in 1660. On 8 March of the same year he was chosen

Gresham Professor of Music The Professor of Music at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to nine and in addition the col ...

, and in May he was elected, along with Sir John Finch, a fellow extraordinary of the College of Physicians, London. In 1663 he was elected an original

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

. From 1664 to 1670 he was at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, where Finch was ambassador. On his appointment, in 1672, to accompany Sir John Finch to

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, in the character of physician, he received the honour of knighthood. Some years afterwards he was transferred, along with Finch, to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. He made arrangements for discharging his professorial duties by deputy, but, on account of his prolonged absence, he was deprived of the chair before the news of his death, at Constantinople on 5 September 1680, had reached England. Finch was distraught at Baines' death, and wrote that it 'cut off the thread of all my worldly happiness'. He described their relationship as a "sweet and unbroken marriage of souls, and a fellowship undivided for thirty-six entire years", and "sacred to an unspeakable love". Baines' viscera were buried in Constantinople, while the rest of his remains were embalmed by Finch, who brought them with him on his return to England, and deposited them in the chapel of Christ's College, Cambridge. Finch died shortly afterwards, and was buried in the same grave, with a memorial and inscription in Latin to their joint memories by Henry More. Portraits of Baines and Finch by the Florentine artist Carlo Dolci hang in the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...

, Cambridge. The pair are further remembered in the poem ''Baines His Dissection'' by Scottish poet, David Kinloch.Best Scottish Poems 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baines, Thomas 1622 births 1680 deaths University of Padua alumni Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 17th-century English medical doctors Original Fellows of the Royal Society