Thomas Southey Baker

Thomas Southey Baker (29 June 1848 – 24 June 1902)[1] was an amateur sportsman who was on the winning crew that won The Boat Race in 1869 and played for England in the fourth unofficial football match against Scotland in November 1871.[2] He subsequently became a teacher at Dunedin in New Zealand.[3] He was the father of Eleanor Southey Baker McLaglan, a pioneering surgeon in New Zealand.[1]

Early life and education

Baker was born in Droxford, Hampshire, the son of Dr Thomas Baker and his wife, Sophia Jane Southey.[1] Baker attended Lancing College between 1861 and 1867, where he played both football and cricket[4] for the school. He was considered the "outstanding athlete of his generation" at Lancing College and his sporting abilities resulted in him twice being crowned victor ludorum by the college.[3]

In 1867, Baker went up to Queen's College, Oxford. At Oxford, he rowed three times in The Boat Race against Cambridge, being on the winning side in 1869[5][6] and losing in 1870[7] and 1871,[8] and also played football for the University.[2]

Baker graduated from Oxford University in 1871, with a Bachelor of Arts degree.[1]

Football career

He later played football for Clapham Rovers, alongside R.S.F. Walker and Jarvis Kenrick, all of whom were selected to play for the England XI against a Scotland XI at The Surrey Cricket Ground, The Oval, Kennington on 18 November 1871.[2] This was the fourth unofficial match between the two countries, which England won 2–1, with Walker scoring both England's goals.[9]

Teaching career

On graduating from Oxford, Baker was briefly a school master at Whitgift School in Croydon, before emigrating to New Zealand in 1873.[1] He sailed to New Zealand on board the SS Dallam Tower.[3] The ship eventually reached Port Chalmers, New Zealand, after a dramatic voyage in which she lost a mast and travelled 2,000 miles under a jury rig.[10][11]

Baker had originally planned to set up business in the flax industry but instead he established a private school at French Farm, at Akaroa near Christchurch.[3] He continued to maintain his interest in sport, winning the athletics championship at Timaru in 1878 and playing cricket for Canterbury[3] between 1874 and 1880.[12][13]

In 1890, he moved to Tasmania, where he taught for two years at Christ College, before returning to New Zealand in 1892. He then established the Goodwood House prep school at Otago.[3] In 1896, he became manager of a boarding house at Otago Boys' High School, Dunedin; his contract gave him the right to conduct his own school on the premises.[3] Baker remained at Dunedin until he died in June 1902,[3] aged 53 He was buried in Dunedin Northern Cemetery.[14]

Family

Baker married Josephine Dicken in 1878 and they had four daughters including Eleanor, the eldest, who became a doctor and surgeon in remote areas of New Zealand's North Island.[15]

References
  1. Mitchell 2012, p. 106.
  2. "Unofficial International No. 4". www.englandfootballonline.com. 18 November 1871. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  3. Mitchell 2012, p. 78.
  4. "Miscellaneous Matches Played By Thomas Baker". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  5. Burnell 1979, p. 59.
  6. MacMichael 1870, p. 356.
  7. Drinkwater & Sanders 1929, p. 64.
  8. Burnell 1979, p. 60.
  9. "England v. Scotland". www.londonhearts.com. 18 November 1871. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  10. Brett, Henry (1924). White Wings vol 1: Fifty years of sail in the New Zealand Trade, 1850–1900. New Zealand Electronic Text Centre. pp. 77–81.
  11. "The British Ship Dallam Tower in a Gale off St Paul's Island: wood engraving, 9 September 1873". State Library of Victoria. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  12. "Thomas Southey Baker". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  13. "Thomas Baker". ESPNcricinfo.
  14. Northern Cemetery plot records
  15. Tennant, Margaret. "Eleanor Southey Baker McLaglan". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 8 December 2014.

Bibliography
  • Burnell, Richard (1979). One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Precision Press. ISBN 0950063878.
  • Drinkwater, G. C.; Sanders, T. R. B. (1929). The University Boat Race – Official Centenary History. Cassell & Company, Ltd.
  • MacMichael, William Fisher (1870). The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races: From A.D. 1829 to 1869. Deighton. p. 37. boat race oxford cambridge.
  • Mitchell, Andy (2012). First Elevens: The Birth of International Football. Andy Mitchell Media. ISBN 978-1475206845.
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