Thomas Baines (physician) facts for kids
Sir Thomas Baines (born around 1622, died 1680) was an English doctor. He is best known for being the lifelong friend and companion of Sir John Finch, who was an ambassador.
Early Life and Education
Thomas Baines was born in a place called Whaddon, Cambridgeshire, around the year 1622. He went to school in Bishop's Stortford. Later, he studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, where his teacher was Henry More. Thomas earned his first degree (B.A.) in 1642 and a master's degree (M.A.) in 1649.
It was at Christ's College that he met John Finch. An accident brought them together, and from that moment on, they became incredibly close friends. Their friendship lasted their entire lives.
A Doctor and a Friend
Thomas Baines traveled to Italy with John Finch. While there, he earned his medical degree (Doctor of Physic) from Padua University. When he returned to England in 1660, he received the same degree from Cambridge University.
He took on several important roles:
- On March 8, 1660, he became the Gresham Professor of Music. This was a teaching position at Gresham College in London.
- In May 1660, he and Sir John Finch were both chosen as special members of the College of Physicians, London, which is a group for doctors.
- In 1663, he became one of the first members of the Royal Society, a famous group that promotes science.
Travels and Later Life
From 1664 to 1670, Thomas Baines lived in Florence, Italy, because John Finch was working there as an ambassador. In 1672, Thomas was knighted (meaning he became "Sir Thomas") when he went with Sir John Finch to Tuscany as his personal doctor.
A few years later, both Baines and Finch moved to Constantinople (which is now Istanbul, Turkey). Thomas Baines had to arrange for someone else to teach his classes back in England. However, because he was away for so long, he lost his teaching job before people in England even knew he had passed away.
Sir Thomas Baines died in Constantinople on September 5, 1680. John Finch was heartbroken by his friend's death. He wrote that it "cut off the thread of all my worldly happiness," and described their bond as a "sweet and unbroken marriage of souls, and a fellowship undivided for thirty-six entire years." He called their friendship "sacred to an unspeakable love."
Burial and Legacy
Thomas Baines' internal organs were buried in Constantinople. However, John Finch carefully preserved the rest of his body. He brought it back to England and placed it in the chapel at Christ's College, Cambridge.
John Finch died soon after Thomas Baines and was buried in the same grave. A special memorial with a Latin message was placed there to remember both of them. This memorial was written by their old teacher, Henry More.
Today, you can see portraits of Sir Thomas Baines and Sir John Finch at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. These paintings were created by an artist from Florence named Carlo Dolci. Their friendship is also remembered in a poem called Baines His Dissection by a Scottish poet, David Kinloch.
