John Thomas Baines, South African painter, traveller and writer, is born

John Thomas Baines was born in England on 27 November 1820. Apprenticed to a coach painter at a young age, he left for South Africa in 1842 to work as a portrait artist. Baines was first employed as a painter for a cabinet maker, and then as a marine and portrait painter. In 1848, he moved to the Eastern Cape, from where he took three journeys into the interior, one of which was past the Orange River. Baines recorded the Eighth Frontier War and became South Africa's first official war artist. Some years later, he returned to England, where he published Scenery and Events in South Africa (1852).

In 1855, Baines joined the Royal Geographical Society's expedition to Australia to work as a storekeeper and artist. This expedition included his exploration of north-west South Africa to determine its suitability for colonial settlement. Due to the extent of his involvement, Mount Baines and the River Baines in Australia were named after him. He became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and was awarded with a medal in 1858. In the same year, Baines was the artist commissioned to David Livingstone's expedition to the Zambezi. Having been dismissed from that commission, he travelled to South West Africa (Namibia) and then to Victoria Falls in present-day Zimbabwe. Ten years later, Baines led an expedition to Matabele King Mizilikazi, and also attended the coronation of King Cetshwayo.

Baines fell ill and died in 1875. The journals in which he recorded his experiences in South Africa were published in two volumes in the 1960's. Baine's greatest contribution was his ability to capture South African history through his paintings.