Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Baker (1771?-1845), 19th century (oil on canvas)

Creator: unknown A half-length portrait of Sir Thomas Baker in rear-admiral's full dress uniform, decorated with the KGB, the order of a Knight of Wilhelm of the Netherlands and the Swedish order of the sword, fourth class. He holds his sword by the scabbard in his left hand and the background is sky. Stylistically the portrait was probably painted during his period in command of the South America station. He joined the navy as a midshipman in 1781 and was a captain by 1797. Shortly after the battle of Trafalgar he helped Sir John Strachan to successfully capture four French ships of the line which had escaped that defeat. In 1808 he was flag captain to Rear-Admiral Bertie in the Baltic and in frequent action with the Danes. In November 1813 he was off the coast of Holland where he gave assistance to the Dutch, for which he was made a Knight of the Order of Wilhelm of the Netherlands. He became a rear-admiral in 1821 and held one appointment as commander-in-chief of the South American station from 1829-1833.