Author: Baylis, Edward
Biography:
BAYLIS, Edward (1797-1861: ancestry.co.uk)
His poems indicate that his wife’s name was Ellen. He was, therefore, the Edward Baylis who appears in the 1851 census living in Milton, near Gravesend, with his wife Ellen Maria. His occupation is given as actuary and his year and place of birth as 1797 in Brompton, London; ODNB gives his birth year as 1791 but without details. Edward Baylis was a prominent actuary in London in the 1830s-40s and worked for various companies although never very successfully. He published several works relating to his profession, including The Arithmetic of Annuities and Life Insurance (1844) On 26 Feb. 1833 he applied to the RLF when his address was 5 Alfred Place, Albany Road, Camberwell; his application was rejected on the grounds that his authorship was "trifling" and his "distress not very peculiar." His letter states that he has a wife and three children to provide for. He died at the Retreat Hotel, Bas Harms Kraal, in the Eastern Cape, on 12 Sept. 1861. (ODNB 7 July 2023; RLF file 757; The Jurist 8 [1863], 546; ancestry.co.uk 23 Jan. 2023) SR