(R.E. - Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers).
| BAYES'
IN THE UK Page 4 |
|
(including Artists, Sculptors and Sportsmen) |
| 2. A Family of Artists |
| Alfred
Walter BAYES
R.E. (1831-1909)
(R.E. - Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers). |
|
(I
am
endebted to Clare Ash for this photo o f
A.W.Bayes) |
Born in the
village of Lumbutts,
near Todmorden, (a town in which in those days lay astride the border
of
Lancashire & Yorkshire).
He was the son of enlightened parents, Cordwainer, William Bayes (1799-1851) and Hannah (nee Uttley, 1788-1856) who formed their own school and museum in a purpose built building behind their house in Lumbutts. Hannah was a Schoolteacher at this school and in 1851, when he was 19, Alfred also taught at Lumbutts School. (The Board School was not in existance at Lumbutts until 1878). In order to advance his artistic career, Alfred Bayes moved to London where he attended Heatherleys Art School, paying his way by making illustrations notably for the Dalziel brothers to engrave. He produced 290 drawings for the Complete Illustrated Stories of Hans Christian Anderson. |
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He exhibited in the Royal Academy (1858-1908), the British Institution (1859-1867), & the Society of British Artists & the New Watercolour Society. In 1900 he was elected as a Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers. Shown left is 'Day Dreams', (c.1902), which can be seen in the York City Art Gallery. |
| There is also a painting of a
Chartists Meeting, held in 1842 at the Basin Stone on the hills above
Walsden. This painting is in the Mayor's Parlour at Todmorden
Town Hall and I note that it has been used on the front cover of a book
called: "Chartism: A New History" by Malcom Chase,
(Manchester University Press,
2007). |
 |
If
you need any information about the area, I can heartily recommend a
really useful website about Todmorden.
The ladies who compile the site were happy for me to copy these images from there, they show paintings by A.W.Bayes. They are of 'Hand Weaving' (left) and the other (right) is of 'Kilnhurst'. |
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He was married to Emily Fielden, born Todmorden, Lancs, 1837 and pictured left. She died in 1924. Alfred and
Emily had four children:
Walter John (1869-1956), Gilbert William (1872-1953) and Jessie (1876-1970). |
|
(The
photograph
above, of
Emily Bayes,
née
Fielden, was kindly supplied by Clare Ash). See
below for further information on Walter, Gilbert and Jessie Bayes.
|
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| Walter
John BAYES R.W.S. (31st May 1869 - 21st January 1956) (RWS - Royal Society of painters in Water Colours) |
|
A painter, etcher, illustrator, theatrical scenery designer and also a lecturer and writer on artistic subjects. He studied in the evenings at the City and Guilds Technical College, Finsbury 1886-1900 and then at Westminster School of Art, 1900-2. He was a
founder member of the Camden Town Group (1911) and
of the London Group of Artists in 1913.
|
 |
(Again,
I am grateful to Clare Ash who provided me with this photo of
Walter and Kate Bayes, also the photo of Walter Bayes in his studio). He taught at the City & Guilds Institute, at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, he was a highly regarded teacher as the Headmaster of Westminster School of Art (1918-1934) and Lecturer on perspective to the Royal Academy and Slade School and Director of Painting at Lancaster School of Arts and Crafts 1944-49. As a critic, he rendered to his fellow artists what Sickert called; "the incalculable service of speaking the truth as he conceives it." |
|
Walter Bayes
was Art Critic of the Athenæum magazine
(1906-1916) and contributed to the Outlook, the Saturday Review and the
Weekend Review. His writings were pugnacious, (according to
John
Rothenstein in
his book - Modern English Painters), and often
obscure..... |
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Walter Bayes'
depiction
of "The Underworld", (part of which is shown left), a large painting of
Londoners
sheltering from an WW1 air-raid in a Tube station. This
was exhibited in the Academy of 1918 and bought for the Imperial
War Museum. It was on show after restoration
at the Northern Imperial War Museum in Manchester. He is also represented in the Imperial War Museum by a design for a tapestry of "Survivors from a Torpedoed Ship" and "The Armoured Fighting Vehicle School, Bovington : lunch on the driving grounds." I don't know whether or not these paintings are on display. |
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He exhibited at all the major London galleries provincial galleries. His publications include 'The Art of Decorative Painting' (1926), 'Turner, a speculative portrait' (1931) and 'A Painter's Baggage' (1932). |
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 |
Gilbert
William BAYES P.R.B.S., H.R.I., (4th April 1872 - 10th July 1953). PBRS - President of the Royal Society of British Sculpters HRI - Honorary member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours) Elected member of the Art Workers Guild 1896 and Master of the Guild 1925-26. A sculptor in Bronze and an architectural and monumental designer. Born in St. Pancras, London, Gilbert Bayes married fellow sculptor, Gertrude Smith in 1906. |
|
He studied at the City and Guilds College, Finsbury, and at the RA Schools, 1896-9. After winning the Gold Medal and Travelling Scholarship, 1899, he studied in Paris and exhibited at the 1900 Exposition Universale. His fine art work was often inspired by the classics and Wagner's operas, but his architectural and public sculpture was more conventional in subject and style. Gilbert Bayes designed many medals and trophies, including the Great Seal of King George V and the Seagrave Trophy. He sculpted the figures of Sir Charles Barry and Sir William Chambers which are on the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Also the Rood at St. Mary's Church, Primrose Hill, London (c.1914) and the Queen of Time, the Great Clock at Selfridges Department Store in London (c.1925). His work includes friezes for the BBC, on the Saville Theatre and in 1939 at Royal Doulton House on the Albert Embankment, London.(Royal Doulton House was demolished in 1978, but Bayes' frieze was saved and is in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In fact, there is now a Sculpture Gallery in the V&A named after Gilbert Bayes). He also produced the stone relief of sporting figures (1934) outside Lord's Cricket ground and various War Memorials including figures for the memorial at his parent's home town of Todmorden, (see below). He wrote 'Modelling for Sculpture: A Book for the Beginner' (1930). He was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (HRI) in 1918, and was awarded the RBS medal in 1935. From 1939 until 1944, he served as President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and also 1939-44, was elected Vice President of the Incorporated Association of Architects and Surveyors. |
  |
Blue Plaque for Gilbert Bayes'
house
As noted on the index page of this website, Gilbert Bayes was honoured by the unveiling of a Blue Plaque on his old home at 4 Greville Place, St. John's Wood, London NW6. The building is now known as Bayes House (see lower - left), he lived there from 1931 until his death in 1953. The unveiling took place on 10th December 2007 and I was lucky enough to be there. Louise Irving, co-author of the book on Gilbert Bayes (see below) gave a short talk before the unveiling, especially noting that the blue enamelled ceramic plaque was a fitting tribute to a man who excelled in that medium. (One thinks of the Doulton frieze now in the V&A and the many colourful architectural items he produced in coloured ceramics). Also present, lurking in the garden at the rear was Gilbert Bayes' statue of 1929, "The Great Pan". His magnificence is pictured, right. |
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In
1935, Gilbert
Bayes designed a medal to commemorate the
launching of the new Cunard ocean liner, the Queen Mary. In
all,
3000 were struck in Bronze, each priced at 15 shillings each, (which
now would be 75p), available from the Royal Mint, or
on-board. It
was reported in October 1935 that they were 'still selling like hot
cakes on every voyage'. The reverse shows a view of New York
as
if seen through the arches of the Bargate in Southampton.
(An Introduction to Commemmorative Medals - Christopher Eimer. Seaby 1989). |
 |
This
medal,
designed by
Gilbert Bayes, was struck for
the London & North East Railway to commemorate the 100th
anniversary
of the opening of it's ancestor, the Stockton and Darlington Railway,
i.e. 1825 - 1925.
It
depicts Edward Pease the founder of the Company
and George Stephenson, who engineered the line and it's locomotives. The S&DR was the first public steam hauled railway in the world. |
 |
In the churchyard of
Saint James Church, at Warter in
Yorkshire are two
beautiful life-size
statues by Gilbert Bayes. On
the left, dated 1910, is the
memorial at the grave of shipping magnate, Charles Henry Wilson, (1833 -
1907). He was made Lord
Nunburnholme
in 1906 . Pictured right, dated 1909, is the statue at the grave of Gerald Valerian Wilson, Lord Nunburnholme's third son who died in Paris, aged 23, in 1908. (This significant example of a Victorian Estate Church, now redundant, is looked after by the Yorkshire Wolds Buildings Preservation Trust). |
 |
 |
There are many examples of Gilbert Bayes'
War Memorials. The picture on the left, shows his superb War Memorial figure at Broughton, just East of Scunthorpe. Another is at Todmorden, Yorkshire, (his Parent's home town, 10 miles W of Halifax), collaborating with architect Norman Thorpe. (Sadly two of the statues have been lost). His work can be seen in St. Mary's Church, Hampstead, London and, as shown above, at Warter, (16 miles E of York). At Holme Lacy, (5m ESE of Hereford), in the churchyard of St. Cuthbert's, is a bronze monument, shown right, at the grave of Edwyn Scudamore Stanhope, 10th Earl of Chesterfield, (whose wife was the daughter of Lord Nunburnholme, see above). There is also a statue (completed after Bayes' death by W.C.H.King) of philanthropic industrialist Robert Owen in Newtown, Powys, in Wales. |
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| I
am indebted to Jill Floyd, who sent me these wonderful images
of
Gilbert Bayes' War Memorial at Broadstone in Dorset, overlooking Poole
Harbour.
It is appropriately carved from Portland Stone, quarried just 25 miles
away. The figure at the top of the memorial is called 'Memory'. The memorial was unveiled on 2nd June 1920 . Jill got involved when the local council decided that it ought to be listed and rightly so. More power to her elbow, so to speak. |
| Bibliography: Gilbert Bayes - Sculptor 1872-1953 By Louise Irvine and Paul Atterbury in association with Peyton Skipwith and contributions by Philip Attwood, Michael Barker and Benedict Read. Published by Richard Dennis 1998. ISBN 0-903685-64-7 A superb record of Bayes’s distinctive contribution to British sculpture in a long and eventful career spanning the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modernism. 192pp, 16 pages of colour, 450 black and white illustrations. Softback £17.50 Gilbert Bayes By Philip Ward-Jackson, 1998. One of a series called 'Essays in the Study of Sculpture', published by the Henry Moore Sculpture Trust. '12 pages, 23 black and white illustrations'. (Well worth the price of £2.50. I bought my copy at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds after visiting the Library, where the friendly and helpful staff helped me research Gilbert Bayes. The Library holds 9 boxes of papers of Gilbert Bayes, purchased from the Gilbert Bayes Charitable Trust in 1999). |
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| Jessie
BAYES RMS (Born 18 Nov 1876, Hampstead, London; died in 1970, Paddington, London).
|
| A
1937 example of her work, are the paintings on a font cover depicting
the childhood of Christ, (near right). These can be seen at
the
lovely Church of St. Mary and St. Andrew at Stoke Rochford in
Lincolnshire.
There must be about two dozen beautiful panels on the font cover, one of which is shown (far right). To see this panel in more detail, click here. (Stoke Rochford is 5 miles South of Grantham). A web page showing some beautiful altar-pieces by Jessie Bayes in Montreal has sadly now disappeared. She made two visits to the New World in the 1920's to exhibit and sell her work. |
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| I have discovered on the
internet,
(on a page called 'Church
Stained Glass Windows by Robert Eberhard'), that Jessie
Bayes designed some stained glass windows for the firm of Goddard and
Gibbs which were installed in St. Luke's Church, Grayshott,
Hampshire.
She also designed windows for St. David's Church at Miskin, near Llantristant about 12 miles West of Cardiff. (I will try to get some more details on these windows when I can). |
| There is a large
memorial to Frank Macrae (d. 1915) with an inset painting of St. George
by
Jessie Bayes,
which is in the north aisle of St. Peter's Church, Cranley
Gardens, Chelsea, London. (In January 1973 the last Anglican service was held in the church and its parish was united with that of St. Mary, The Boltons. In June 1975, however, St. Peter's was re-consecrated by the Supreme Catholicos of all Armenians as the Cathedral Church of the Armenians in London). |
 |
I
was contacted by Ian Lewis, who has been researching the War memorials
of Lakeland for some time. At Flookburgh, in Cumbria, he found what he describes as a stunning Roll of Honour executed c.1919 by Jessie Bayes. Ian was kind enough to send me a photograph (left). Ian was obviously interested to know more about Jessie Bayes and found this site in his searches and I'm glad to say, sent me the information on this Flookburgh work. (Flookburgh is 4 miles West of Grange over Sands, on the coast of Morcambe Bay). Mark Rathbone contacted me, kindly allowing me to include this picture (right) of another beautiful painting by Jessie Bayes for a memorial to Mark's grandfather, Percy Rathbone, who died in 1926. The memorial was commissioned by Percy Rathbone's widow. This initial painting was for design approval and a larger version was subsequently painted at the Church of St. Martin at Epsom, Surrey, on to a pillar near the choir stall where Percy Rathbone sang tenor for many years. The picture shows angels holding a chalice to illustrate the line in the Holy Communion service, "Now with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven". |
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| Ian
Lewis commented on the fact that various reference
books give different dates for the passing of Jessie Bayes.
From
one reference of 1970 and information received from her great neice, I
had believed she lived to the grand old age of 95. I decided
I
ought to find out for sure and found the reference for her Death
Certificate on 1837online. This was Paddington, 1970
April-June
quarter, Vol 5d p.1223. |
| For
a list of works exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibitions by members
of this Bayes Family, see the attached page. |
| On the excellent Todmorden site mentioned above, look under People. Here you will find further information on this talented family, including the fascinating "Bayes Family Saga". |
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| 3. A Firm of Sculptors |
|
In a Dictionary of
British Sculptors
(1660-1851) by Rupert Gunnis, I found a reference to the firm of Robert
BAYES of Kettering, Northamptonshire, (1810-1845).
"The firm consisted of Robert Bayes and his son Joseph, who later succeeded him. They sign a wall tablet, with a semi-urn to Robert Stanley, 1821 at Weekley, Northants, and another in the form of hatchments to the Rev. James Hogg, 1844, at Geddington in the same county." |
| 4. The Guardian of the Posts |
| Ashley
John BAYES (born
Lincoln, 19th April 1972).
Goalkeeper,
signed in November 2004 by Grays Athletic.
22
May 2005 - FA Trophy Final at
Villa Park. 14
May 2006 - FA Trophy Final
at Upton
Park In the 2007/8 season, Ashley played for Conference team, Crawley Town and in May 2008 signed for fellow Conference side, Stevenage Borough. |
| 5. A County Cricketer |
| George William BAYES
Born Flamborough, Yorkshire on 27 Feb 1884,
died at
Flamborough on 6 Dec 1960. (Many thanks to his Grandson, also called George Bayes, for letting me know about our 'cousin', the County Cricketer). |
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| 6. Other finds.......
These were found in a World Biographical Index web site, K.G.Saur Publishing: see... |
| (a) Rosamund A. BAYES:
1875-? British Women's Suffragette
(Source: The Labour Who's Who 1927). (b) Thomas BAYES: Colonist in America mentioned in 1643 (Source: A genealogical register of the first settlers of New England, etc. by John FARMER - Lancaster MA - 1829. (c) BAYÉS - There are four Spanish people mentioned, (another source for the name). Two medical men, Cándido Juan Ramón Bayés y Coch (1867 - ?) and Antonio Bayés y Fuster (mentioned 1881), a painter, Marta Bayés Alsina, (1926 - ?) and an artist in metal working, Florenci Bayés (mentioned 1940). |
| (d)
William BAYES: 1823-1882 Physician and
Writer Educated at University College, London. MRCS in 1840's, Hon MD Lambeth 1850. Founded London School of Homeopathy on 15th December 1876. He died at 88 Lansdowne Place, Brighton on 8th December 1882. In the 1881 Census, there is a William Bayes, Physician, aged 58, born (Kings?) Lynn, Norfolk and living at 82 Redcliffe Gardens, Kensington, London. Sources include: Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British & American Authors by J.F.Kirk, London, 1891. Picture from a Homeopathe International web page, which give his dates as 1823-1900. |
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