who was frederick baker?

Frederick Baker was a solicitors clerk in the town, originally from guildford he was a respected member of the tight knit community coming from a background of wealth. his father a tailor was quite abusive to the children and for much of his childhood a young Frederick Baker suffered with illnesses including tuberculosis. he was a quiet unassuming man described as tall at 5ft 4 inches weighing 8st 10lbs it was remarked he had a thin and spare frame with a continence approaching the cadaverous. the young man was set to be engaged until his fiancee broke it off, this sent Mr Baker on a downward spiral, when he reached 26 he started to frequent free houses consuming vast amours of liquor and food. his attention seeking and care free attitude eventually led to him to involvement with the infamous guildford guys, a gang at the time. it was in Guildford he was accused of luring a young girl into an old chalk pit colloquially known as the echo pit for “felonious purposes” to spare his family shame he was sent to Alton, he moved to the town seeking reform. 

this was my initial sketch of mister baker i wanted him to look as he was described, young and gaunt, quite well dressed as well, he often wore a top hat. this was my starting point for everything to follow as there were no photos of the accused. 

when i came to refine these sketches i initially tried to sketch their faces from a variety of perspectives, this was quite unsuccessful it did however give me a series of sketches from which i could base the characters on. For Mr Baker i wanted to create an unassuming gentlemen, he was respected, well dressed, and described as a steady young fellow. i hope this is conveyed i my sketch as it was the over riding theme of the design.

 this sketch was intended to be him in a candid manner, i wanted to show the relaxed manner with which he was described, it was only supposed to be a quick sketch and the left arm is awful, which does make me question why im uploading it, but i think it helps to build the character profile i hoped to establish.