Francis Baines attended the Royal College of Music, where he was taught by the composer Herbert Howells.
Early in his career, he played the double bass in the Boyd Neel Orchestra (where he was principal) and the Philomusica.
[3] He took part in a performance of Schubert's Trout Quintet with Benjamin Britten and the Amadeus Quartet, and played nine different instruments in a recording of medieval music.
[3] His Fanfare was included in Gerard Hoffnung's first Music Festival Concert along with works by the better-known British composers Malcolm Arnold and William Walton.
His compositions include three symphonies (from 1953 and 1957), two overtures, a Divertimento, a violin concerto, and a set of Comic Variations.