(John) Thomas Baines (27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875) was an English artist and explorer of

British colonial The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

southern Africa and Australia.

Life and work

Born in

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

, Norfolk, on 27 November 1820, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at the age of 16. When he was 22 he left England for South Africa aboard the "Olivia" (captained by a family friend William Roome) and worked for a while in Cape Town as a scenic and portrait artist, and as official war artist during the so-called Eighth Frontier War for the British Army. thos baines02

In 1855 Baines joined

Augustus Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...

's 1855–1857

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

sponsored expedition across northern Australia as official artist and storekeeper. The expedition's purpose was to explore the Victoria River district in the north-west and to evaluate the entire northern area of Australia in terms of its suitability for colonial settlement. His association with the North Australian Expedition was the highpoint of his career, and he was warmly commended for his contribution to it, to the extent that Mount Baines and the

Baines River Baines is a surname of English, Scottish or Welsh origin. It shares many of the same roots with the British surname Bains.Reaney, P.H. ''A Dictionary of British Surnames'' Routledge & Kegan Paul, 2nd edition (1976)Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dic ...

were named in his honour. In 1858 Baines accompanied

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

along the

Zambezi The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

, and was one of the first white men to view

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anima ...

. In 1869 Baines led one of the first

gold prospecting Gold prospecting is the act of searching for new gold deposits. Methods used vary with the type of deposit sought and the resources of the prospector. Although traditionally a commercial activity, in some developed countries placer gold prospe ...

expeditions to

Mashonaland Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. Currently, Mashonaland is divided into four provinces, * Mashonaland West * Mashonaland Central * Mashonaland East * Harare The Zimbabwean capital of Harare, a province unto itself, lies entirely ...

in what later became

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to th ...

. From 1861 to 1862 Baines and James Chapman undertook an expedition to

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola ( Portuguese colony before ...

. Chapman's ''Travels in the Interior of South Africa'' (1868) and Baines' ''Explorations in South-West Africa'' (1864), provide a rare account of different perspectives on the same trip. This was the first expedition during which extensive use was made of both photography and painting, and in addition both men kept journals in which, amongst other things, they commented on their own and each other's practice. Baines made some of the drawings for the engravings illustrating

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural sele ...

's 1869 book ''

The Malay Archipelago ''The Malay Archipelago'' is a book by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace which chronicles his scientific exploration, during the eight-year period 1854 to 1862, of the southern portion of the Malay Archipelago including Malaysia, S ...

''. In 1870 Baines was granted a concession to explore for gold between the

Gweru Gweru is a city in central Zimbabwe. Near the geographical centre of the country. It is on the centre of Midlands Province. Originally an area known to the Ndebele as "The Steep Place" because of the Gweru River's high banks, in 1894 it became ...

and Hunyani rivers by

Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo (c. 1845 – presumed January 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields", a refere ...

, leader of the Matabele nation. Thomas Baines died in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

on 8 May 1875 and is buried in West Street Cemetery.

Legacy and Honors

Baines is today best known for his detailed paintings and sketches which give a unique insight into colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Most of his work is held in London. Many of his pictures are held by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

National Archives of Zimbabwe The National Archives of Zimbabwe are the national archives of Zimbabwe. They are located in Harare. The National Archives were established by an Act of Parliament in 1935, now known as the National Archives Act 1896. The Archives are the sto ...

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

Brenthurst Library The Brenthurst Library is a private repository of Africana in Johannesburg built by Harry Oppenheimer in 1984 as he started to disengage from the family's mining interests. It houses a collection of some 20,000 volumes, including rare manuscrip ...

and the

. There are also numerous paintings at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. The Thomas Baines Nature Reserve in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in 199 ...

of South Africa was also named after him.John Thomas Baines - English Artist and Explorer (1820-1875)
/ref> Baines is also commemorated in the '' Aloe bainesii'' T.-Dyer, ''Albuca bainesii'' Baker, ''Iboza bainesii'' N.E.Br and many others.

Publications

Thomas Baines, ''Explorations in South-West Africa: being an account of a journey in the years 1861 and 1862 from Walvisch Bay, on the Western Coast to Lake Ngami and the Victoria Falls'' (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864).

Thomas Baines, ''The gold regions of south eastern Africa'' (London: Edward Stanford, 1877).

J.P.R. Wallis (ed.), ''The northern goldfields diaries of Thomas Baines'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1946).

Fay Jaff, ''They came to South Africa'' (Cape Town: Timmins, 1963).

J.P.R. Wallis, ''Thomas Baines, his life and explorations in South Africa, Rhodesia and Australia, 1820–1875'' (Cape Town: A.A. Balkema, 1976).

Russell Braddon, ''Thomas Baines and the North Australian Expedition'' (Sydney: Collins in association with the Royal Geographical Society, 1986).

Jane Carruthers and Marion Arnold, ''The life and work of Thomas Baines'' (Vlaeberg, South Africa: Fernwood Press, 1995).

Historic Houses Trust, ''Cape Town, halfway to Sydney 1788–1870: treasures from The Brenthurst Library Johannesburg'' (Sydney: Historic Houses Trust, 2005).
* William Barry Lord lavishly illustrated by Thomas Baines ''Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, Travel and Exploration'' (1876) * ''"Thomas Baines of King's Lynn, Artist and Traveller"''. by Henry J. Hillen. serialised in "The King's Lynn News and Norfolk County Press" published between 12 March and 10 September 1898. Transcribed copies are in the King's Lynn Library, and Museum.

References

External links

Baines' works
in the

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ...

Baines' works
in the

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwi ...

Jane Carruthers, 'Thomas Baines: Artist-Explorer of Australia and Southern Africa', ''NLA News'', October 2005, Volume XVI, Number 1
(archived 18 September 2006)

* *
Baine's work in the Cory Library for Historical Research collection

Jan-Bart Gewald: ''To Grahamstown and back. Towards a socio-cultural history of Southern Africa''. Inaugural lecture, Leiden University, 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baines, Thomas 19th-century English painters English male painters English explorers British war artists Explorers of Africa Explorers of Australia People from King's Lynn 1820 births 1875 deaths Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society 19th-century English male artists