Thomas Baines

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Dianne Jones on 21st September 2021

From the Dictionary of Irish Biography, contributed by Patrick Maume: Baines, Thomas O'Malley Baines, Thomas O'Malley (1844–99), Fenian, was born near Louisburgh, Co. Mayo, son of a couple named Baines, of whom no more is known. His father died soon after his birth. In 1848 Mrs Baines with her two children were evicted from their holding as part of the famine clearances on the estate of the marquess of Sligo. They continued to live in the Westport area; Baines's mother and sister spent the rest of their lives in Westport and are buried at Oughaval, Co. Mayo. Baines joined the Irish brigade formed to defend the papal states; he was stationed at Ancona, where the papal garrison surrendered to Sardinian forces in September 1860 after a brief siege. Baines and his comrades were deported to France; he returned to Rome and remained in the papal service till 1862, participating in several skirmishes with Garibaldian forces. Baines always boasted of his service to the pope; he compared the seizure of the papal states to his family's eviction. He cited the conspiracy theory that nationalist uprisings in Europe (especially those against the papacy) were orchestrated by Lord Palmerston, as ‘proof’ that Leo XIII was shortsighted in supporting the British position on the Plan of Campaign. On returning to Ireland in November 1862, Baines joined the newly formed Dublin fire brigade, as did several other papal veterans subsequently involved in the IRB. From 1864 Baines worked full-time for the IRB, recruiting Irish soldiers in the British army to the Fenian cause; in 1865–6 he worked with Michael O'Brien (qv), the ‘Manchester martyr’. On 16 August 1866 Baines was arrested in Liverpool and his papal service medal was confiscated (he later attempted to obtain a substitute from the Vatican). He was tried at Dublin on 12 February 1867, sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude, and removed to Millbank penitentiary in London. On 30 September he was one of the Fenians embarked on the Hougomont, the last convict ship sent to Australia. Between January 1868 and February 1871 he worked on road-making as a convict in Western Australia. In March 1871 he received a conditional pardon; after a short and unsuccessful attempt at gold-mining, he left for the United States. Baines landed in San Francisco in March 1872. He became a saloon-keeper; in 1875 he was shot in the lung during a dispute with a barkeeper and nearly died. He was a prominent activist in the Workingman's Party of California, a populist group led by Denis Kearney (qv), which achieved extensive support (1877–80) among the San Francisco white working class by campaigning for labour reform and against Chinese immigration. Baines revisited Australia between January 1880 and May 1882 to disinter the body of Patrick Keating – a Fenian military prisoner originally recruited by Baines, who had died in Western Australia – and bring it to California for eventual shipment to Ireland and burial in Glasnevin. He may also have undertaken IRB business during the visit. Baines spent the remainder of his life as a travelling book agent, a pedlar soliciting advance subscriptions for books due to be published. Baines carried around and sold an autobiography, ‘My life in two hemispheres: what was suffered for love of country’ (3rd ed. San Francisco, 1889). This combines a cursory outline of his career with brief accounts of numerous prominent Irish people he met in Australia and California (desiring to perpetuate their memories and hoping they would buy the book), making it a potentially valuable source for historians of the Irish in late nineteenth-century California. It also reprints well known patriotic ballads and advertisements for California businesses (mostly Irish-owned). Several advertisements specify: ‘All white labor – no Chinese employed’. Baines remained active in local Irish and Democrat politics into the 1880s. In December 1883 he acted as grand marshal of a symbolic funeral commemorating Patrick O'Donnell (qv), hanged for killing the informer James Carey (qv). He was subsequently active in the American branch of the Irish National League. Baines considered Grover Cleveland lamentably blind to British intrigues against America, and claimed that Salvation Army missionaries were British agents recruited among ex-convicts and sent to America, since Britain no longer possessed penal colonies. Baines was always on friendly terms with local Irish catholic clergy. While visiting the priests in the former St Mary's College, Mission Road, San Francisco, on 5 April 1899 he suffered a paralytic stroke, dying on 10 April. During a near-fatal illness, Baines married (18 January 1877) a Miss McCarthy. They had two sons, Robert Emmet Baines and Thomas Addis Emmet Baines; Robert, the elder, joined the American army and fought in Cuba during the Spanish–American war. Baines was not in the first rank as Fenian or autobiographer, but his career reflects the worldwide wanderings and resentments of many post-famine emigrants, the ambivalent relationship between nineteenth-century Irish nationalism and Catholicism, and the fact that oppression does not automatically produce sympathy for other marginalised groups.” (https://doi.org/10.3318/dib.000322.v1)

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Dianne Jones on 21st September 2021

--00-- 1899, 20 May: Death notice from the Connaught Telegraph: DEATH OF A MAYO FENIAN. The death is reported from San Francisco of Captain Thomas O’Malley Baines, who spent his life in the cause of Ireland. Captain Baines once made a vow that he would never cut his hair until Ireland was free, and his curly brown locks hanging over his shoulders attracted general attention. He was assigned to the task of organising the Irishmen in the English army. His efforts in this line were crowned with success, but in 1855 he was arrested and charged with treason. He was tried before Judge Keogh and sentenced to ten years’ servitude in the penal colonies of Australia. After serving five years he was pardoned, and in 1872 he went to America with several compatriots. For many years he supported himself by selling books, one of which was a biography of his life, entitled ‘My Life in Two Hemispheres’, in which the history of the Fenian uprising was told as he himself saw it. He was married in 1877 and was the father of two children – Robert Emmet, now in the army in Cuba and Thomas Addis, a lad of 15, who lives at home on Ivy Avenue, San Francisco. Capt. Baines left America but once after 1872. That was in 1882, when he paid a visit to Australia and brought back the bones of Patrick Keating, an old Irish compatriot, who was transported with him to Australia. It had always been his intention to pay a visit to Ireland for the purpose of burying Keating’s bones. He served in the Papal army, and was taken prisoner at Ancona. In the autobiography he says of himself: “Born in County Mayo, Ireland, in 1844; joined the Irish Papal Brigade, and was taken prisoner of war at Ancona, Italy, September, 1860; liberated from the military prison at Genoa in November, the same year. Transported from Ireland to Australia, a Fenian convict, in February, 1867. Pardoned by Queen Victoria, December 29, 1870. Released from prison March 11, 1871. Went to New Zealand in June, and was expelled by Government with four other exiles. Returned to Sydney and sailed for California, reaching here March 1st, 1872.”

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Dianne Jones on 21st September 2021

--00-- THOMAS FRANCIS O’MALLEY BAINES (d 10/4/1899) 1899, 12 April – from the San Francisco Call, Volume 85, Number 133: “DEATH TAKES AN IRISH PATRIOT Thomas Baines, Once a Fenian Leader, Has Passed From Earth. Captain Thomas Francis O’Malley Baines, Irish patriot and Fenian conspirator, has gone to his long home. About a week ago he was taken to St. Mary's Hospital suffering from paralysis, and Monday morning [10 April] death stopped the heart whose every throb has been a prayer for the freedom of old Ireland. All day yesterday the body lay in the parlor of the Pacific Undertakers on Mission street with a bunch of green shamrocks on the now quiet bosom, and hundreds of Irishmen who had lived through the stirring times of the Fenian uprising came to take a last look at all that is mortal of one who had been a leader and a plotter in the lost cause. For years Captain Baines has been a familiar figure along the city streets. He once made a vow that he would never cut his hair until Ireland was free, and his curly brown locks hanging over his shoulders attracted general attention. In his native land he was known as a schemer of rare ability, with a certain reckless abandon. The great leaders of the conspiracy selected him as a man capable of performing most dangerous and difficult tasks. So it happened that after the arrest of ‘The Pagan’ O'Leary, Baines was assigned to the task of organizing the Irishmen in the English army. His efforts in this line were crowned with success, but in 1865, shortly after the suppression of the Irish Papal newspaper, he was himself arrested and charged with treason. He was tried before Judge Keogh and sentenced to ten years' servitude in the penal colonies of Australia. After serving five years he was pardoned by the Queen, and in 1872 he came to this country in company with several compatriots. The Hibernia Rifles was an active organization at that time, and Mr. Baines joined them, and finally rose to the rank of captain. After the organization was dissolved he kept his green uniform and sword, and on St. Patrick's day he would wear them and go calling on his friends. For many years he supported himself by selling books, one of which was a biography of his life, entitled ‘My Life in Two Hemispheres’, in which the history of the Fenian uprising was told as he himself saw it. He was married in 1877, and was the father of two children, Robert Emmet, now with the army in Cuba, and Thomas Addison, a lad of 15, who lives at the home on Ivy avenue. Captain Baines has left this country but once since his arrival in 1872. That was in 1882 when he paid a visit to Australia and brought back with him the bones of Patrick Keating, an old Irish compatriot, who was transported with him to Australia. It has always been his intention to pay a visit to Ireland and carry Keating's bones there for interment. The deceased was 54 years old, and a native of County Mayo, Ireland. The funeral will take place from the parlors of the Pacific Undertakers at 8:15 this morning, and from the Church of the Sacred Heart at 9:30.”

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Dianne Jones on 21st September 2021

CRIME: TREASON-FELONY, FENIAN RECRUITER

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D Wong on 2nd December 2019

Transported for 'Treason'. Thomas was listed as 24 years old on arrival, he was single, 5'10½" tall, light brown hair, grey eyes, oval face, fair complexion, stout build, mark of burn left instep. After being deported from NZ, Thomas went to Gympie in Queensland, and then to San Francisco. Thomas died in the US. The artist, Thomas Baines, was John Thomas Baines 27 November 1820 – 8 May 1875. Born in King's Lynn, Norfolk, he died in Durban, South Africa on 8/5/1875. Not Thomas Baines the convict.

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D Wong on 2nd December 2019

Thomas was one of 62 Fenians who arrived on the Hougoumont in 1868. Thomas was reputed to be a member of the assassination committee of the fenian movement and also recruited british soldiers into the fenian movement. He pleaded guilty under the erroneous impression that he would be leniently dealt with. Born 1843/44 - Unmarried, Farmer, literate. 13/3/1871: CP 11/5/1871: Thomas O'Malley Baines travelled to N.Z. on the 'Queen of the South' - 27/6/1871: Deported from NZ. as a prohibited convict immigrant.-

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Mark Matthews on 2nd December 2019

Thomas Baines, born 1842 one of 280 convicts transported on the Hougoumont, 10 October 1867

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Robert Elali on 27th February 2018

Thomas Baines was a irish artist