Thomas Baines
Encyclopedia
Thomas Baines (27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875) was an English
artist
and explorer of British colonial southern Africa
and Australia
. Born in King's Lynn
, Norfolk
, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at an early age. 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.
In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory
’s 1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society
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 were named in honour of him.
In 1858 Baines accompanied David Livingstone
along the Zambezi
, and was one of the first white men to view Victoria Falls
. In 1869 Baines led one of the first gold prospecting
expeditions to Mashonaland
in what later became Rhodesia
.
From 1861 to 1862 Baines and James Chapman
undertook an expedition to South West Africa
. 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.
In 1870 Baines was granted a concession to explore for gold between the Gweru
and Hunyani rivers by Lobengula
, leader of the Matabele nation. Thomas Baines died in Durban
in 1875.
Baines is today best known for his detailed painting
s and sketches
which give a unique insight into colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Many of his pictures are held by the National Library of Australia
, National Archives of Zimbabwe
, National Maritime Museum
, Brenthurst Library
and the Royal Geographical Society
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and explorer of British colonial southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Born in King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Baines was apprenticed to a coach painter at an early age. When he was 22 he left England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
for South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
aboard the "Olivia" (captained by a family friend William Roome) and worked for a while in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
as a scenic and portrait artist, and as official war artist during the so-called Eighth Frontier War
Xhosa wars
The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa people and European settlers, from 1779 to 1879 in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa....
for the British Army.
In 1855 Baines joined Augustus Gregory
Augustus Gregory
Sir Augustus Charles Gregory KCMG. was an English-born Australian explorer. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions.-Early years:...
’s 1855–1857 Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
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 were named in honour of him.
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
along the Zambezi
Zambezi
The Zambezi is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is , slightly less than half that of the Nile...
, and was one of the first white men to view Victoria Falls
Victoria Falls
The Victoria Falls or Mosi-oa-Tunya is a waterfall located in southern Africa on the Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe.-Introduction:...
. In 1869 Baines led one of the first gold prospecting
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...
expeditions to Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
in what later became Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
.
From 1861 to 1862 Baines and James Chapman
James Chapman (explorer)
James Chapman James Chapman James Chapman (27 December 1831 Cape Town - 4 February 1872 Kimberley, was a South African explorer, hunter, trader and photographer.A son of James Chapman and Elizabeth Greeff of Malmesbury and brother to Henry Samuel Chapman, he was educated in Cape Town and left for...
undertook an expedition to South West Africa
South West Africa
South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....
. 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.
In 1870 Baines was granted a concession to explore for gold between the Gweru
Gweru
Gweru is a city near the centre of Zimbabwe at . It has a population of about 146,073 , making it the third largest city in the nation. Gweru is the capital of Midlands Province. Gweru was founded in 1894 by Dr. Leander Starr Jameson. The first bank opened in Gweru in 1896, and the stock exchange...
and Hunyani rivers by Lobengula
Lobengula
Lobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
, leader of the Matabele nation. Thomas Baines died in Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
in 1875.
Baines is today best known for his detailed painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s and sketches
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
which give a unique insight into colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Many of his pictures are held by the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
, National Archives of Zimbabwe
National Archives of Zimbabwe
- External links :* http://www.moha.gov.zw...
, National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
, Brenthurst Library
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 manuscripts and documents...
and the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
.
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.
External links
- http://www.nla.gov.au/catalogue/pictures/Baines' works in the National Library of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
, CanberraCanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
] - http://www.nmm.ac.uk/mag/pages/mnuInDepth/Biography.cfm?biog=155Baines' works in the National Maritime MuseumNational Maritime MuseumThe National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
, GreenwichGreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
] - Jane Carruthers, 'Thomas Baines: Artist-Explorer of Australia and Southern Africa', NLA News, October 2005, Volume XVI, Number 1
- Biography and bibliography for Thomas Baines
- Thomas Baines: From the cradle to the grave