Sir

Abe Bailey

Bt KCMG JP
Born
Abraham Bailey

(1864-11-06)6 November 1864
Cradock, Cape Colony
Died10 August 1940(1940-08-10) (aged 75)
Muizenberg, South Africa
Spouses
Caroline Mary Paddon
​
​
(m. 1894; died 1902)​
    ​
    (m. 1911)​
    Children7, including Derrick and James

    Sir Abraham Bailey, 1st Baronet KCMG (6 November 1864 – 10 August 1940), known as Abe Bailey, was a South African diamond and gold tycoon, politician, financier and cricketer.

    Early years

    Bailey's mother, Ann Drummond McEwan, was Scottish by birth while his father, Thomas Bailey, was from Yorkshire, England. Married in 1860 in South Africa, Thomas and Ann Bailey had four children, Mary, Abraham, Susannah and Alice, before Ann Bailey's premature death in 1872, when young Abe was only seven years old.[1] Abe Bailey was sent to England to be educated, first at Keighley and later at Clewer House.

    After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, a corps of imperial volunteers from London was formed in late December 1899. The corps included infantry, mounted infantry and artillery divisions and was authorized with the name City of London Imperial Volunteers. It proceeded to South Africa in January 1900, returned in October the same year, and was disbanded in December 1900. Bailey was appointed a lieutenant of the mounted infantry division on 3 January 1900, with the temporary rank of lieutenant in the army,[2] but the appointment was later cancelled.[3] He saw active service in South Africa with a different regiment, and returned to the United Kingdom in July 1900 on the RMS Dunottar Castle. In December 1902 he was appointed a captain in the Sussex Yeomanry.[4]

    Politics

    Returning from the Boer War on the RMS Dunottar Castle, July 1900.[5] Standing L-R: Sir Byron Leighton, Claud Grenfel, Major Frederick Russell Burnham, Captain Gordon Forbes, Abe Bailey (his son John would marry Diana Churchill in 1932), next two unidentified, John Weston Brooke. Seated L-R: Major Bobby White, Lord Downe, General Sir Henry Edward Colville (a year later Churchill as MP would demand an inquiry over his dismissal from South Africa), Major Harry White, Major Joe Laycock, Winston Churchill, Sir Charles Bentinck. Sitting L-R: unidentified, Col. Maurice Gifford (who had lost his arm in the Second Matabele War).

    In October 1902, Bailey stood unopposed as a Progressive Party candidate for the Barkly West constituency of the Cape Colony Legislative Assembly.[6] The constituency had been represented by Cecil Rhodes until his death earlier the same year.

    Business

    Via his business interests and his ties to Cecil Rhodes, Abe Bailey acquired substantial mining and land properties in the former Rhodesia. By the 1930s he was one of the world's wealthiest men.[1] Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1911,[7] he was created baronet in 1919,[8] one of a number of "Randlords" knighted for their services to the British Empire.

    Cricket

    Abe Bailey
    Cricket information
    BattingRight-handed
    BowlingRight-arm medium pace
    Career statistics
    Competition First-class
    Matches 3
    Runs scored 16
    Batting average 3.20
    100s/50s 0/0
    Top score 8
    Balls bowled 470
    Wickets 11
    Bowling average 18.27
    5 wickets in innings 0
    10 wickets in match 0
    Best bowling 4/51
    Catches/stumpings 4/0
    Source: Cricinfo

    Bailey played three first-class matches for Transvaal in the 1890s.[9] Later he played an important role in initiating the 1912 Triangular Tournament between England, Australia and South Africa, who at the time were the only Test-playing countries. He first proposed the idea on a trip to England in 1907, stating: "Inter-rivalry within the Empire cannot fail to draw together in closer friendly interest all those many thousands of our kinsmen who regard cricket as our national sport, while secondly it would probably give a direct stimulus to amateurism."

    The idea was immediately embraced by the Marylebone Cricket Club, who were then effectively in charge of cricket, and 1909 was the first year designated for the tournament. But the administrators could not agree and by the time 1912 was alighted on, world cricket was in conflict. Infighting and a poor performance from the South African team in 1912 ensured that the idea of a three-nation Test match tournament was not repeated.[10]

    Art collection

    These interests, as much as his aspirations to the titles and the lifestyle of the English landed gentry were influential in the formation of his personal art collection. This collection was mostly displayed in his London home and moved for safe-keeping to the north of England during the Second World War (1939–1945). On his death in 1940 the terms of his will placed his collection under the protection of a special trust established in his name and bequeathed it to the South African nation. Bailey was one of the very few South African Randlords to leave a bequest of this nature to South Africa.[11]

    At his specific recommendation, this collection was placed under the curatorship of the South African National Gallery in Cape Town, where it first went on display in 1947. Numbering over 400 items, including paintings, prints and drawings, the Sir Abe Bailey Bequest' is the largest bequest held at the South African National Gallery to this day. It also constitutes one of the largest collections of British sporting art held by any public art museum in the world. The Sir Abe Bailey Trust is actively involved in its maintenance, and conservation work on the collection.

    Abe Bailey Travel Bursary

    Under the terms of his will annual travel bursaries are awarded to outstanding university students and young academics (less than 25 years old) to travel to the UK to widen their experience.

    Family

    Abe Bailey
    CrestA demi-female figure with arms extended Proper habited Azure trimmed at the collar cuffs and shoulders Argent holding in each hand a sprig of mimosa as in the arms.
    BlazonArgent on a fess between three martlets Gules a bezant between two sprigs of mimosa Proper.
    MottoVirtus Castellum Meum[12]

    First wife/children by first marriage

    • Hon. Caroline Mary Paddon (d. 23 March 1902)
    1. Cecil Marguerite Bailey (8 June 1895 – 29 June 1962); married Dr William F Christie.
    2. Sir John Milner Bailey, 2nd Bt. (15 June 1900 East Grinstead – 13 February 1946 Cape Town, South Africa); married, firstly, Diana Churchill (1909–1963) (eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill and Clementine Ogilvy Hozier) on 12 December 1932 (divorced in 1935); married, secondly, Muriel Mullins on 18 October 1939 (divorced in 1945); married, lastly, Stella Mary Chiappini on 4 May 1945.

    Second wife/children by second marriage

    1. Mittie Mary Starr Bailey (1 August 1913 – 10 April 1961); married Robin Grant Lawson, son of Sir John Grant Lawson, 1st Bt. on 23 May 1934 (divorced in 1935); married, secondly, to William Frederick Lloyd in December 1935 (divorced in 1947); married, lastly, George Edward Frederick Rogers in 1947 (divorced in 1958).
    2. Sir Derrick Thomas Louis Bailey, 3rd Bt. (b. 15 August 1918 – 19 June 2009); married, firstly, Katharine Nancy Darling on 18 July 1946 (divorced before 1980); married, secondly, Mrs Jean Roscoe (maiden name unknown) in 1980 (divorced in 1990).
    3. Ann Hester Zia Bailey (15 August 1918 – 3 October 1979); married, firstly, Pierce Nicholas Netterville Synnott (divorced).
    4. James Richard Abe Bailey (23 October 1919 – 29 February 2000); married, firstly, Gillian Mary Parker in 1958 (divorced in 1963); married, secondly, Barbara Louise Epstein on 16 April 1964.
    5. Noreen Helen Rosemary Bailey (27 July 1921 – 26 July 1999); married, firstly, W/Cmdr. Peter Anker Simmons on 27 January 1941; married, secondly, Count Peter Christian Raben-Levetzau, son of Count Siegfried Raben-Levetzau on 8 August 1947 (divorced in 1951).

    References

    1. 1 2 "Abe Bailey biography". Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
    2. ↑ "No. 27157". The London Gazette. 26 January 1900. p. 516.
    3. ↑ "No. 27175". The London Gazette. 20 March 1900. p. 1879.
    4. ↑ "No. 27501". The London Gazette. 5 December 1902. p. 8444.
    5. ↑ "FinestHour" (PDF). Journal of the Churchill Center and Societies, Summer 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
    6. ↑ "Latest intelligence – The Cape elections". The Times. No. 36907. London. 24 October 1902. p. 3.
    7. ↑ "No. 28452". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1911. p. 3.
    8. ↑ "No. 31255". The London Gazette. 28 March 1919. p. 4008.
    9. ↑ "Abe Bailey". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 July 2022..
    10. ↑ Brenkley, Stephen (27 May 2012). "Experiment fails to stand the test of time". The Independent. London, UK. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012.
    11. ↑ "Iziko: Sir Abe Bailey". Painting Conservation. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
    12. ↑ Burke's Peerage. 1949.

    Sources

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