The Bayley family has been traced back to Thomas Bayley and Elizabeth Hassall who were married in Newport, Shropshire, England in 1787.¹ In the same parish register, eighteen months later, “Thos and Eliz Bailey” were the parents of Sarah, christened 26 May 1790, who may be a younger sister to John.² Thomas’ parents have not been uncovered yet, but Elizabeth is most likely the daughter of John Hassall and Elizabeth Ward who were married in Newport 30 December 1745. They had seven children listed in the register as having been christened there, Elizabeth being the youngest.³

John Bayley, son of Thomas and Elizabeth, was christened on 2 January 1789 in Newport.⁴ John and his wife Jane, born in Wilbrighton, Staffordshire,⁵ were the parents of at least three children: John Horatio Robert, George, and Enoch. John Sr. was a mercer in 1816, but by 1828 he was a schoolmaster in Wolverhampton.⁶

John Horatio Robert, known as John H.R. Bayley, the oldest son, was born in Wellington, Shropshire, in 1816 and christened there in All Saints Church.⁷ Like his father, John was a school teacher. In 1835 he married Margaret Morris in Old Swinford, Worcestershire.⁸ George Bayley, John and Jane’s second child, was born six years later, about 1822 in Cheshire or Lancashire.⁹ George married Mary Collier the day before Christmas, 1846, in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire.¹⁰

John and Jane’s third child, Enoch, was born six years later, in 1828 in Wolverhampton.¹¹ In 1853 he married Sarah Purshouse, daughter of Benjamin and Sophia Purshouse of Wolverhampton.¹² Because John and Jane Bayley’s children were born several years apart, 1816, 1822, and 1828, it is possible that they had other children. Two children were born to a John and Jane Bayley in Wolverhampton in 1829 and 1830. Anne was christened 17 Feb 1829 and Samuel on 8 April 1830. It was noted that Anne was three when she was christened.¹³ If these two children are part of the same Bayley family, it seems odd that Anne was not christened at the same time as Enoch rather than a year later. There were other Bayleys living in Wolverhampton at the time; however, John, the father, was listed as a schoolmaster at both christenings. The family seemed to move often and other children might have been born in other places to this couple.¹⁴

John and Jane were living with their son George and his family in 1851 at Lower Rushall St., in Walsall, Staffordshire.¹⁵ John died in 1859 while he was living at Lower Rushall St. He was buried 24 February at the Queen Street Cemetery in Walsall in the Church of England section of the cemetery in a brick grave eight feet deep.¹⁶ Jane was still living with George and his family in 1861 in Walsall. When she died in 1867 the family was living at 4 Lichfield St. in Walsall. She was buried with her husband in the Queen Street Cemetery in Walsall on the second day of February.¹⁷

Index to Bayley family members on this website

Descendants of Thomas Bayley and Elizabeth Hassall

Direct Descent from Thomas Bayley and Elizabeth Hassall to Author

John Horatio Robert Bayley

Descendants of John H.R. Bayley and Margaret Morris

Family Group Sheet for John H.R. Bayley and Margaret Morris

Selected poems from Harvest Sheaves by J.H.R. Bayley

Children of J.H.R. Bayley and Margaret Morris

Hamlet Bayley, b.1836, eldest son of J.H.R. Bayley and Margaret Morris

Children of Hamlet Bayley and Esther Ashcroft

Four generation pedigree chart for Annie Bayley Miller

Newsclipping of closure of Roton Point Park by Neville Bayley

Ferncliff Mausoleum, burial site of Neville and Elizabeth Bayley

1. Record of Marriage for Thomas Bayley and Elizabeth Hassall, Bishop's Transcripts of St. Nicholas Parish Registers, Newport, Shropshire, England. FHL MF 510671. This information is from researcher Barbara Torley.

2. There is also a record of marriage in the same register for a Sarah Bayley and John Ifield of Pye, Salop, on 6 May 1822, according to researcher Barbara Torley. FHL Microfilm 510671, Bishop's Transcripts of St. Nicholas Parish Registers, Newport, Shropshire, England

3. Their children were Thomas, 1746; John, 1752; Sarah, no date; Richard, no date; Elizabeth, Nov 1762, buried 26 Jan 1767; Ann, 6 Apr 1766; and Elizabeth, 17 Apr 1768. Information from researcher Barbara Torley. FHL Microfilm 510671, Bishop's Transcripts of St. Nicholas Parish Registers, Newport, Shropshire, England

4. Record of Baptism for John Bayley, 1789, Parish Church of Newport, Shropshire, Parish registers, 1569-1883. FHL MF 918785. Mother is Elizabeth Bayley, father is Thomas, 1789 Jan 2, Jno., S. of Thos. & Eliz. Bayley. p123. Another film gives a better picture of the parish record: FHL MF 510671.

5. 1851 Census, England, Staffordshire, Walsall, H0107/2023/514/p.49, E.D. 2d, FHL Br MF 87428, Place of birth appears to be Willbrighton [Wilbrighton], Staffordshire. It the 1861 census her place of birth is also given as Wilbrighton.

6. Occupations for John Bayley come from the baptismal records of his sons John and Enoch.

7. Record of Baptism for John H.R. Bayley, 1816. Baptism Records of All Saints Church [Church of England], Wellington, Shropshire, p.79, record #629. FHL MF 2355579, County at the time was Salop, now Shropshire.

8. Record of Marriage for John Bayley and Margaret Morris, 1835. Parish Registers, Parish Church of Old Swinford, Church of England, Worcestershire, England, 1602-1961, p.68, Record #202. FHL Br. MF 527943. Both parties signed their names (no marks); neither were previously married, and they were married by banns.

9. Record of Baptism for Margaret Morris, 1814, Bishop's Transcripts for Blymhill, Staffordshire, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1809-1868, FHL Br. MF 426494, item 2.

10. 1861 Census, England, Staffordshire, Walsall, RG9/2013/63/p.25, E.D. 12, Household #124, Place of birth is Winsford, Cheshire. However, In two other censuses, in 1851 it is Middlewich, Cheshire; in 1871 and 1881, Croft, Lancashire. No baptismal record has been found so far.

11. Record of Marriage for George Bayley and Mary Collier, 1846, Parish Register, 1844-1847, St. Peter's Church [Church of England], Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, p.242, record #483. FHL Br MF 1040904, St. Peter's Church is called Collegiate Church in the record. He is a bachelor, she is a spinster.

12. Emails from researcher Barbara Torley, Fall 2005, born on 28th March 1828 & was christened the same day at Wolverhampton Wesleyan Chapel (Darlington Street Methodist).
    
    Record of Baptism for Enoch Bayley, March 1828, Darlington Street Chapel (Wolverhampton, Staffordshire : Wesleyan), Births and baptisms, 1793-1837, FHL MF 825398, Item 5, p.52, Record #416 , Born and baptized 28 March 1828, Enoch, son of John and Jane Bayley, of North Street, Wolverhampton, schoolmaster.

13. Record of Marriage for Enoch Bayley and Sarah Purshouse, 1853, Parish Register of St. James Church, Parish of St. James, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England. Register #203, p.102, 5 July 1853. FHL Br MF 1040909, Bride is 18. Bride and groom signed the register without marks.

14. Registers for St. Peter’s Church, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, 1538-1875, St Peters baptisms 1813-1875 Surnames A to G, from the web page: The History of Wolverhampton, the City and its People , accessed 19 October 2008

15. At one point in the research it was unclear whether John, George and Enoch were actually brothers. George was definitely the son of John and Jane as they are living with him in the mid-1800s. George also paid for their burial plot. Jane, in both the 1851 and 1861 censuses, gave her place of birth as Wilbrighton, Staffordshire, which is close to Newport, where John, her husband, was born, but in another county. In a book of poetry written by John Horatio Robert Bayley, the oldest child, there is a poem about his grandmother’s well in Wilbrighton, linking him to Jane. And one of Enoch’s descendants in Australia tells of a book of poems by a Bayley relative that had been brought over with the family when they emigrated. The book, unfortunately, was tossed out at some point by some family member. These pieces of circumstantial evidence point to the three men being brothers.
    
    John and Jane have not turned up in the 1841 census. If they could be found, it would be possible to know more about the children who were born in the later 1820s. Any children they might have had in the earlier years of their marriage would probably not appear in the 1841 census. John Horatio, born in 1816, was already married and had two children by the 1841 census.

16. Burial register, 1857-1969, Queen Street Cemetery, Walsall, Staffordshire, UK, Microfilm of original records in possession of Walsall Local Studies Centre, Essex Street, Walsall, FHL MF 1472746, Burial Register #1, Entry #349, Bayley, John, adult, age 69, died at Rushall St., Walsall, 24 Feb 1859, Division H, Section 1, grave no. 1; brick grave, 8 feet deep.

17. Burial register, 1857-1969, Queen Street Cemetery, Walsall, Staffordshire, UK, Microfilm of original records in possession of Walsall Local Studies Centre, Essex Street, Walsall, FHL MF 1472746, p.142. Entry #5805 , Bayley, Jane, adult, 78 years, died at Lichfield St., Walsall, buried 2 Feb 1867, Division H, Section 1, Grave 1, brick interment.