Nicholas Paget Bayly (1769 - 1823)

Born 3 Sep 1769 in Plas Newydd, Denbighshire, Wales [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Laycock) Bayly — married about 19 Nov 1801 in St John's Parramatta, Colony of New South Wales [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 16 May 1823 at age 53 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Nicholas Bayly came free to the Colony of New South Wales (1788-1900)

Nicholas Bayly was born on 3 September 1769 according to his gravestone. He was the son of Nicholas Bayly (1749-1814) of Plas Newydd, Anglesea, Wales, M.P. for Anglesea 1784-90 and colonel in the West Middlesex Militia, and his wife Frances, née Nettlefold of Kent. He was a nephew of the earl of Uxbridge.^[1]

Family influence helped to procure him a commission without purchase as ensign in the New South Wales Corps in 1797. He sailed as commander of the guard in the Barwell and, claiming to have discovered a plot to seize the ship, placed his subordinate, Ensign Bond, under arrest. When they arrived at Sydney Major Joseph Foveaux intervened and Bond was allowed to resign rather than stand his trial.^[1]

Next year Bayly was a member of the court in the controversial trial of Isaac Nichols and formed part of the majority whose decision was criticized by the governor and the naval members of the court.^[1]

In 1799 and 1800 he received two land grants totalling 566 acres (229 ha) at the Eastern Farms, but by the end of 1800 was on duty at Norfolk Island.^[1]

After his return to Sydney he married Sarah Laycock on 19 November 1801.

In January 1802 he was court-martialled by the governor for illegal possession of liquor and by his commanding officer for refusing to attend a meeting on the subject. Four weeks later he faced the first of several trials for undue severity towards his convict servants and in 1803 was arrested for distributing a lampoon on Governor Philip Gidley King.^[1]

Promoted lieutenant in 1802, he sent in his resignation from the Corps on 25 September 1803, though it was not finally accepted in England until 1808.^[1]

Bayly played central part in the "Rum Rebellion" which culminated in the deposition of Governor William Bligh. He was rewarded with appointments as private secretary to Major George Johnston and acting provost-marshal.^[1]

By May 1808 he had fallen out with John Macarthur who described him as a 'violent oppositionist'. Nevertheless he retained Johnston's confidence and appears to have won favour with Lieutenant-Governor William Paterson, who in February 1809 appointed him Naval Officer and later granted a total of 1070 acres (433 ha) at Cabramatta, which he called Bayly Park.^[1]

After Governor Lachlan Macquarie's arrival Bayly was dismissed from public office, but his grants were confirmed. In a letter to Sir Henry Bunbury on 13 March 1816 he attacked Macquarie's administration, and pleaded for a colonial appointment, claiming that his children who now numbered eight were unprovided for.^[1]

In January 1819, his ten-month-old daughter, Ellen, died. The following year his wife Sarah died in June 1820, shortly after giving birth on 4 May at Bayly Park to a tenth child. This child was baptised "Sarah Ellen Maria" on 25 July 1820, at St Phillip's church, Sydney.^[2]

On 3 September 1820 he secured a paid position as cashier and secretary of the Bank of New South Wales.^[1]

In the 1822 muster Nicholas Bayley(sic), "came free, cashier, bank", was listed in Sydney, with children "Miss Bayley" [Frances] 18, Henry 17, Gussa [Augusta] 13, George 15, Caroline 11, Edward 9, Nicholas 8, Charles 6, and Helen Maria 2½. He had a total of 2630 acres, of which 40 acres were cleared and cultivated with wheat, 8 horses, 34 horned cattle, 8 hogs, and he was the master of approximately 21 assigned convicts.^[3]

He died on 16 May 1823, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the Bank of New South Wales, Head 0ffice, George Street, Sydney, where he and his family lodged.^[4]

Obituary, Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, Thursday 22 May 1823, page 2:^[5]

We have the melancholy task this week of reporting the decease of NICHOLAS BAYLY, Esq. late Cashier of the Bank of New South Wales, whose death suddenly took place on Friday last, the 16th instant, about 9 o'clock in the evening. He had for some time past been in a declining state of health, and on that day, and the day preceding, had manifested symptoms of delusion in the mind. He has left a very large family of children (now orphans) to deplore the loss of an anxious and affectionate father. At eleven o'clock on Monday the remains of the above much lamented Gentleman were removed from the Bank to the Town of Parramatta, in a hearse. As far as the toll-gate, a long train of Civil and Military Officers, and other Gentlemen, followed. Several Gentlemen, we understand, proceeded all the way to Parramatta ; in the church-yard of which town the body was interred in the same vault with his lately beloved wife, who died about 3 years ago, shortly after the birth of her ninth child.—Mr. Bayly was an inhabitant of this Colony for a number of years. He formerly served in the New South Wales Corps (afterwards the 102d Regiment). He has filled several Civil Offices in this Colony, in which, as well as his Appointment at the Bank, he acquitted himself highly honorable and creditable. His energies were for a long time directed to the improvement of a valuable estate at the South Creek, about 30 miles from Sydney, on which he resided with his family several years.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} B. H. Fletcher, 'Bayly, Nicholas (1770–1823)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bayly-nicholas-1758/text1959, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 24 April 2018.
2. ↑ St Philip's Church of England, Sydney NSW: Church Register - Baptisms; ML ref: Reel SAG 90.; Volume entry number: 216, cited in Biographical report for Nicholas BAYLEY, Person ID: B#15001006401 https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/biographical-report/15001006401?f=nicholas&l=bayly&ol=&i=3&s=&p=
3. ↑ General Muster of New South Wales 1822, and Land & Stock Muster NSW 1822, cited in Biographical report for Nicholas BAYLEY, Person ID: B#15001006401 https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/biographical-report/15001006401?f=nicholas&l=bayly&ol=&i=3&s=&p=
4. ↑ James Dunk, “Nicholas Bayly: The Anti-Settler,” St. John’s Online, (2021), https://stjohnsonline.org/bio/nicholas-bayly, accessed online 20 March 2022.
5. ↑ THURSDAY, MAY 22. 1823. (1823, May 22). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 2. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2181883

See also:

• Nicholas Paget Bayly. http://www.thepeerage.com/p47154.htm#i471531
• https://australianroyalty.net.au/tree/purnellmccord.ged/individual/I51290/Nicholas-Bayly
• from family search on christening of daughter Caroline