Thomas Baines was born in King’s Lynn, Norfolk back in 1820. At 22 he left England landing in South Africa working for a while in Cape Town as a scenic and portrait artist. He was an official war artist during the Eight Frontier War for the British Army. In 1855-57 the Royal Geographical Society sponsored an expedition across northern Australia, he was the official artist and storekeeper.
However, that paled to what he accomplished during 1858, more on that in a moment. In 1869, he led one of the first gold prospecting expeditions to Mashonaland what is not Rhodesia. During an expedition to explore for gold between the Gweru and Hunyani rivers in the Matabele nation he died in Durban on May 8th, 1875.
What you may not know about Thomas is that in 1858 he accompanied David Livingstone along the Zambezi and was one of the first white men to view Victoria Falls.. he is best known for this detailed paintings and sketches giving us a unique insight into colonial life in southern Africa and Australia. Most of his works are now held by the National Library of Australia, National Archives of Zimbabwe and the Royal Geographical Society to name a few.
Until tomorrow give someone the free gift of a smile
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