Mariners, Marriages and Mansions

Over a 10-year period three siblings arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) from England: Charles, Bayley and Harriet Bull. Camouflaging their humble roots they adopted the surname of Bayley, their mother’s maiden name and one associated with several prominent shipbuilders from coastal Suffolk and Essex where they had been born and raised. The first to arrive was Charles Bayley (1813-1875) who began work as a mariner in his teens. In 1839 at the age of 26 he was appointed captain of the whaling barque Wallaby. Charles spent the next 23 years involved in this industry, in the process becoming one of Hobart Town’s wealthy whalers and shipowners. This prosperity transferred to his brother Bayley Bull (1823-1894) who arrived in Hobart Town from London in 1843. Capitalising on his older brother’s resources and reputation, and assuming the name of James Bayley, he also became involved in the whaling industry and maritime trade, countering their inherent risks to further the family’s success.In 1846 James Bayley returned to London and with his youngest sister Harriet Bull (1828-1878) arrived back in Hobart Town in January 1847. While James resumed his role in the whaling industry, Harriet quickly married Scottish-born shipwright Alexander McGregor who went on to become one of Van Diemen’s Lands’ industrious shipbuilders, within a few decades also becoming the largest and wealthiest shipowner in the colony.Combined, Charles, James and Harriet Bayley (and her husband Alexander McGregor) were tenacious, persevering and calculated risk-takers, building business empires they would never have dreamed possible had they stayed in England. Despite this affluence they remained unassuming, sagacious and charitable; enduring the loss of spouses, children and each other; taking on various causes and volunteer opportunities; and helping advance their communities. Their only extravagance appears to have been their penchant to travel back to England, and their homes: ’Lenna’ at Battery Point and ’Runnymede’ at New Town, both stately mansions still in existence.This book profiles the lives of Charles, James and Harriet Bayley: their upbringing, their careers, their spouses and families, their personal losses and grievances, their homes, their good deeds, and their scandals. It is also the story of their legacies and the patrimony that allowed their widows, children and grandchildren to lead privileged yet benevolent lives, championing political, military, social, health and recreational causes and events throughout the greater Hobart area and well beyond.