Person
Baines, (John) Thomas (1820 - 1875)
- Born
- 1820
King's Lynn, Norfolk, England - Died
- 1875
Durban, South Africa - Occupation
- Explorer and Artist
Summary
Thomas Baines was an artist and explorer who spent much of his life in southern Africa. He came to Australia to participate in the North Australian Exploring Expedition (1855 - 1856) as artist. His role was to record the activities of the expedition in drawings and water colours. Baines remained at the depot camp on the Victoria River estuary while Expedition leader Augustus Gregory took a smaller party to explore inland, and retuned to Moreton Bay by sea at the conclusion of the Expedition. Returning to South Africa he joined the expeditions of David Livingstone to the Zambesi River and James Chapman to southwest Africa.
Details
Chronology
- 1842
- Life event - Arrived in South Africa
- 1850 - 1853
- Career event - Commissioned by Governor Henry Somerset to sketch events of the 8th Frontier War
- 1853
- Life event - Returned to United Kingdom
- 1855 - 1856
- Career position - Artist on the A.C. Gregory's North Australian Expedition
- 1857
- Life event - Returned to South Africa
- 1857? - 1859?
- Career position - Artist and storekeeper for David Livingstone's expedition up the Zambesi River
- 1861 - 1863
- Career position - Member of James Chapman's expedition through South West Africa to the Victoria Falls
- 1868
- Career position - Leader of expedition into Matabeleland for South African Goldfields Exploration Company
- 1872
- Career position - Leader of expedition into Matabeleland for South African Goldfields Exploration Company
Related entries
Archival resources
Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales
- Augustus Charles Gregory - Records, 1842 - 1903, MS 191-8 and Q420-42; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- John Thomas Baines - Records, 1855 - 1856, FM 4/1152; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- John Thomas Baines - Records, 1856 - 1857, FM 4/1373; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- John Thomas Baines - Records, 1858, A1824; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
- John Thomas Baines - Records, A3600; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection
- John Thomas Baines - Records, 1855, MS 95; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
Published resources
Books
- Braddon, Russell, Thomas Baines and the North Australian Expedition (Sydney: Collins in association with the Royal Geographical Society, 1986), 160 pp. Details
- Carruthers, Jane and Arnold, Marion, The life and work of Thomas Baines (Vlaeberg, South Africa: Fernwood Press, 1985), 184 pp. Details
- Gunn, Mary and Codd, L. E., Botanical exploration of southern Africa: an illustrated history of early botanical literature of the Cape flora, biographical accounts of the leading plant collectors and their activities in southern Africa from the days of the East India Company until modern times (Cape Town: Balkema, 1981). Details
- Wallis, John Peter Richard, Thomas Baines: his life and explorations in South Africa, Rhodesia and Australia, 1820-1875 (Cape Town: Balkema, 1976), 235 pp. Details
Edited Books
- Carruthers, Jane and Stiebel, Lindy eds, Thomas Baines: Exploring Tropical Australia, 1855 to 1857 (Canberra: National Museum of Australia Press, 2012), 177 pp. Details
Journal Articles
- Carruthers, Jane, 'Thomas Baines: Artist-Explorer of Australia and Southern Africa', National Library of Australia News, XVI (1) (2005), 3-6. http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/nlanews/2005/oct05/article1.html. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q113518. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/30783243. Details
- 'Baines, Thomas (1820-1875)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1308242. Details
Reviews
- Carruthers, Jane and Stiebel, Lindy eds, Thomas Baines: Exploring Tropical Australia, 1855 to 1857 (2012)
Home, R. W., Historical Records of Australian Science, 24 (1), (2013), 165-7, https://doi.org/10.1071/HR12024. Details
Theses
- Cole, Stevie, 'The art of fiction: fact, myth and new knowledge on the North Australian Expedition, 1855 - 1857', M.Phil. thesis, University of Notre Dame Australia, 2021, 117 pp. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/324/. Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 6 October 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education