Wesleyan educationalist, son of a coalminer, born at Hart's Hill Pike, Lancashire. With an aptitude for teaching, he began as a pupil teacher in Cheshire and then in 1877 was appointed the headmaster of Wellington National (Boys') school. At twenty-seven in 1880 he founded his own school, Wellington College, to put into practice his belief that pupils needed individual attention. Sold in 1920, it was renamed Wrekin College and became an Anglican foundation. An active Liberal and a friend of Lloyd George, he was a Shropshire county councillor and alderman for 43 years, a member of the Wellington School Board, and a magistrate, and he stood unsuccessfully as a Coalition Liberal candidate in the Wrekin by-election in February 1920. The same year he donated a wooden building for use of those who had fought in the Great War and it now continues as a bowling club. He was knighted in 1928. Bayley married Emily Susannah Butler (1857-1928) in 1877.

Entry written by: DCD
Category: Person
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