William Alexander (April 10, 1767 –July 23, 1816) was an English painter, illustrator, and engraver. He was one of the appointed draughtsmen on Lord Macartney's famous embassy to China, and several of his drawings were published in George Leonard Staunton's An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China in 1797. Alexander was an accomplished artist from a young age, moving to London at 15 to study with William Pars and Julius Caesar Ibbetson. At age 16, he was admitted to the Royal Academy Schools, and he soon gained the support of the acclaimed artist Sir Joshua Reynolds. Following the Macartney embassy, he continued to publish works related to voyages to Asia and the western coast of America, including Vancouver's famed expedition. In 1802, he was appointed professor of drawing at the Military College at Great Marlow, and then took a position as assistant keeper of antiquities at the British Museum, where he undertook a project illustrating the museum's collection of terra cottas and marbles, which remained uncompleted at the time of his death. More by this mapmaker...

Henry William Parish (fl. c. 1792 - 1797) was a British artillery officer best known as a draughtsman and head of the artillery detachment on Lord Macartney's embassy to China. Several of his drawings were published in George Leonard Staunton's An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China in 1797. Parish also surveyed portions of the Great Wall of China as the embassy moved towards Chengde, the summer residence of the Qing emperors. Learn More...

Benjamin Thomas Pouncy (c. 1750 - 1799) was an English artist and engraver who produced works dealing with historical and antiquarian topics, as well as landscapes and contemporary events. He trained under the engraver William Woollett and later produced illustrations for Andrew Ducarel, a prolific researcher and writer. Pouncy also worked as a librarian at Lambeth Palace, residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a fellow of the Incorporated Society of Artists in London and exhibited with them as well as the Royal Academy. In addition to George Leonard Staunton's An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China, he also produced many of the plates for accounts of Captain James Cook's second and third voyages. Learn More...

Joseph Baker (1767 - 1817) was a British naval officer and explorer best known for his service under George Vancouver during the historical Vancouver expedition to map the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver was born in the Welsh border counties. He joined the Royal Navy in 1787 where he met and befriended then-Lieutenant George Vancouver and then-Midshipman Peter Puget. When Vancouver was commissioned to complete the exploration of the American Northwest Coast, he chose Baker as he 3rd Lieutenant and Puget as his 2nd Lieutenant. During the course of the expedition Baker was assigned the task of converting surveys into working maps and his name appears on many of Vancouver's most important maps, including the first complete map of the Hawaiian Islands. Baker, along with the expedition's naturalist Archibald Menzies, completed the first recorded ascent of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano. Mt. Baker, in modern day Washington, is also named after him. In his journals Vancouver wrote admiringly of Baker's work:

…my third Lieutenant Mr. Baker had undertaken to copy and embellish, and who, in point of accuracy, neatness, and such dispatch as circumstances admitted, certainly excelled in a very high degree.

Following the Vancouver expedition Baker briefly retired from naval service until being recalled and made Captain in 1808. Assigned to the ship HMS Tartar, Baker was charged with escort duty in the Baltic. There, in a series of skirmishes with Danish privateers, Baker fell afoul of his British superiors and was court-martialed. Although acquitted of the court martial, Baker never again served in the Royal Navy. He retired to Presteigne where he maintained a long standing friendship to Puget, who moved to the same town on his own retirement. Learn More...