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Biographical entry 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.

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Details

Events

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 Events

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

Resources

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, (2013), 165-7. Details

McCarthy, G.J. and Helen Cohn

Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 26 February 2019