Author: Bailey, Thomas
Biography:
BAILEY, Thomas (1785-1856: ODNB)
He was born in Portland Place, Coalpit Lane, Nottingham, on 31 July 1785 to Philip Bailey, a silk hosier, and his wife Elizabeth Whittle. He was educated in Nottingham and at a boarding school in Gilling, Yorkshire. He began his working life in his father’s business before becoming a successful wine merchant. He also taught Sunday school in various chapels in Nottingham. On 28 Dec. 1808 he married Marie-Anne Taylor (d 1818) with whom he had three daughters and one son who survived infancy; his son, Philip James Bailey, became a poet known for his Festus (1839). Marie-Anne died in 1818 and on 17 Sept. 1822 he married Katherina Carver. In 1830 he bought a large house in Basford, Nottinghamshire; in the same year he ran unsuccessfully in the general election. Bailey was a reformer but not a radical in his politics and in 1835-43 he served as an alderman for Exchange Ward, Nottingham. He was the owner and editor of the Nottingham Mercury (1845-46) but his moderate views led to a decline in the newspaper’s popularity. Bailey served for some years as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Basford Union or workhouse. He died at home on 23 Oct. 1856 of stomach cancer after a long illness. His funeral was held at St. Leodegarius Church in Basford and he was buried in the cemetery there. Bailey was a prolific writer and his other works include Discourse on the Causes of Political Revolutions (1832?), Advent of Charity and other Poems (1851), Nottingham Castle (1854), and Annals of Nottinghamshire (4 volumes; 1852-55). (ODNB 17 Oct. 2022; ancestry.co.uk 17 Oct. 2022; Nottinghamshire Guardian 30 Oct. 1856)