Ovapedia search :

On the 10th March 1845 Colonel Bayly died as the result of burns received the previous day (1). An account of this incident was recorded on Thursday 27 March 1845 in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette which read:

“Colonel Bayley, who for many years lodged with Mr Salter, at Budleigh Salterton, was so severely burnt that he expired the following afternoon. It appears that the deceased was in the habit of placing the newspaper on the fender before the fire to dry, and it is supposed that, standing with his back towards the fire, the paper ignited and communicated to the skirts of his dressing-gown..”. The account goes on to speculate that because the arm-chair that he used was burnt that he had sat down again unaware that he was on fire “as he wore flannel drawers”. He then became aware of his predicament and rang the bell for the little girl who usually looked after him who then found him enveloped in flames. Mr Salter was called but was unable to douse the flames and save his life.

Charles Bayly was christened in Fulmer Buckinghamshire in 1776 and was the third son of Colonel Nicholas Bayley of the Royal West Middlesex Militia (1). Nicholas Bayly died in 1812 leaving his wife Frances (nee Nettleford) with 10 children. Nicholas had been in financial difficulties for some time after a dispute with his brother Henry (later the 10th Lord Paget) over possession of an estate (2). All money he had went into the education of his large family. His sons all followed military careers and Charles, who had been born in 1774 entered the 41st Foot as an Ensign in September 1795. He was promoted Lieutenant the following year and transferred in January 1805 to be a Captain in the 63rd Foot. In January 1812 he became a Major in the 3rd Garrison Battalion and in April of 1813 he was in command of seven companies sent to Malta. Unfortunately “plague” struck Malta in May and several soldiers became ill and some died. The battalion was put into quarantine in Fort Ricasoli at Floriana Barracks. By October 1813 the 3rd Garrison Battalion was described as “being made of old men, worn out in the Service, and generally inveterate drunkards, and men of all descriptions incompetent for Service” (3).

The 3rd Garrison Battalion was re-named as the 1st in 1815 and in 1817 many of the men were relocated to England and I suspect that Bayly went with them as he went onto half pay in September of that year. In 1820 he was described as serving in the West Indies acting as ADC to Major General John Murray (4) but this needs verifying because there was a Captain Charles Bayly in the 4th West India Regiment who had been ADC to the Commanding Officer of the West Indies forces from 1816.

In 1824 Bayly was still on half pay from the 1st Garrison Battalion and in March took the post of Major in the 98th Regiment of Foot. He exchanged that posting in November 1826 and again went on un-attached half pay (5). He had been promoted Lieutenant Colonel in May 1825 (5) although he retained the rank of Major in his Regiment.

He must have returned to the Regiment because in September 1829 Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bayly, late of the 98th Regiment, appeared before a Court Martial at Limerick accused of allowing corporal punishment in a “cruel and unprecedented manner” to be administered, to three privates at Tralee in January 1828 using a cat-o’-nine-tails steeped in brine(6). He was found guilty of some of the charges and not guilty of others (including knowledge that brine was being used). His conduct was not considered by the Court to have been disgraceful to him as an officer but it concluded that the prisoner should be “admonished, at such a time and place, and in such a manner as the General Commander-in-Chief, Lord Hill, shall direct “. According to this record, Bayly surrendered command of the depot at Tralee around the 25th February 1828.

He came off half pay again in 1838 to take a post as Major in the 51st Foot (5); this, because of his age, must only have been a short commission. When he retired he appears to have initially moved to live at Hampton Court (7). The 1841 census records a Charles Bayly in one of the grace and favour apartments at Hampton with his wife and 2 children but I believe this to be Charles Nathaniel Bayly not the man described here who never married. C N Bayly had extensive West Indian Plantations.

After his death in 1845 Lieutenant Colonel Bayly was described as “universally respected and beloved” (1). Augusta Bayly, one of his unmarried sisters, died in Exmouth in July the same year.

Written and Researched, © Roger Lendon August 2014

References

(1) Saturday 22 March 1845,  Sherborne Mercury ,  Dorset
(2) For details see Morning Chronicle, Monday 22 June 1812, London
(3) www.maltaramc.com/regmltgar/garrbn.html    
(4) The Royal Military Calendar, Or Army Service and Commission Book. Vol. 5 1820 edit.  John Philippart
(5) London Gazette
(6) The United service journal and naval and military magazine - Part 1 - Page 771  1829
(7) Solicitors advertisement in,   Exeter Flying Post Thursday 19 June 1845

BS-B-00066  Biography