Fonds relating to the life and career of Henry E. Baines (1840-1866), born in Shrewsbury, England, the son of Dr. Philip Ottey Egerton Baines and Mary (née Rice). Baines joined the Royal Artillery as a lieutenant in 1859, and served in Canada from 1861 until his death in 1866. Baines was serving in Cobourg in 1863 when he and fellow officers took a month's leave and sailed around Lake Ontario on board the ship "Breeze". Baines later published an account of this voyage in an undated pamphlet entitled "The Cruise of the Breeze", only one copy of which appears to survive, in the Metropolitan Toronto Central Library. Baines was later stationed in Quebec City, where he died of injuries on 27 October 1866 sustained while attempting to rescue individuals from the major fire of 14 October 1866.
The fonds consists of a journal entitled "The Cruise of the Breeze" dated 1863, describing a voyage by ship around Lake Ontario, undertaken by several British Army officers stationed at Cobourg, Ontario. The journal is interleaved with a map, drawings, and watercolours, and some drawings are also executed directly on the journal pages. The journal itself covers a journey from Cobourg to Toronto, Dundas, Consecou, Prince Edward County, Nicholas Island, Kingston, Cedar island, Presqu'ile, Black River, Picton, Wapoose Island, Cape Vesey, all in Ontario, and then to Oswego, Sackett's Harbour, Putneyville, Sodus Point, and the Genesee River in New York state, and then on to the Niagara River. The journal also includes views of various vessels, including the Breeze II, J.A. MacDonald, Zouave, Slug, Palivetto, the Auquila of Jersey, Glance, Aroow, Rivet, Wide-Awake, Kitten, Gorilla (at the Toronto Yacht Club) and a paddle-wheel steamer. The fonds also includes supporting documentation, including a transcript of the journal; a photographic copy of a daguerreotype portrait presumed to be Henry Baines himself; a photograph of the commemorative plaque commissioned by fellow officers concerning Baines' heroism, which is currently on the wall of the Anglican Cathedrel in Quebec City; and some loose drawings and watercolours of scenes in Quebec, including Quebec City and the Island of Orleans; and Halifax, Nova Scotia. There are also some individual drawings and watercolours of scenes in England, including views of Weymouth, Ludlow, a church in Kent, and Dartmouth, as well as some undientified views. Finally there is a commemorative card depicting the monument erected in Brixton Church in Kent to honour his heroic death in the Quebec City fire.
A later accrual was added to this fonds, donated by Marjorie C. Seguin, Dr. Robert Cluett, Thayer B. Cluett and Marc P. Seguin, who bought twenty watercolours and donated them to Library Archives Canada. These watercolours are predominantly landscapes. Two portraits and one scene depicting the planting of the British flag are also included. The watercolours are uniform in size, possibly suggesting that the pages were once part of a sketchbook. These watercolours, from 1865-1866, show Baines' work in the last two years of his life and capture the landscape, people, city and vessels of the day around Quebec City.
