There are several Aldermen of Manly for whom we do not have photographs. One of these mystery men is Alderman Samuel Bennett Bailey (1845-1896), who was a member of Manly Council in the late 1880s.
He was born in Cornwall, UK, the son of a builder and architect named William Bailey, who came to Sydney in 1848. William built the Catherine Hayes Hospital at Randwick and St Mary’s Church, and became Mayor of Newtown.
Samuel married Emma Green of Tamworth in 1870, at the Newtown Wesleyan Church. In April of that year, he found himself at Ulladulla at the time the ship Walter Hood was wrecked near Berrara. The wreck of the Walter Hood was a dramatic affair. In bad weather, Bailey and another man swam out in repeated unsuccessful efforts to get a line to men stranded on the wreckage of the ship. Several passengers and crew drowned before conditions abated and the rest were brought to safety. For his bravery, Bailey was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society in January 1872.
For a few years, he kept the Commercial Stores at Merriwa, NSW, before moving to the North Shore in the early 1880s. He came to Manly circa 1887, where he lived at ‘Restormel’, 4 East Promenade, built by his father (Restormel is a place in Cornwall), and practised as a land agent. He was elected to Manly Council in February 1886, with 329 votes. Shortly after, Alderman Charles Hayes was ousted from office by a decision of the Supreme Court, and Bailey was one of four Aldermen who resigned in consequence. Fresh elections were held, and he topped the poll with 381 votes. He resigned again in June 1887, perhaps because he was about to be declared insolvent.
The following year he registered a patent for “an improved medium to be used for advertising purposes” – it is not clear what this was, but it had something to do with theatrical advertisements. By 1890 he had become a journalist. He died on 15 October 1896, and is buried at Rookwood cemetery (Old Wesleyan section).
Samuel and Emma had at least seven children. One of them, Mrs Bernice Druce, wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1925 to retell the story of her father’s heroism in the wreck of the Walter Hood.
He was born in Cornwall, UK, the son of a builder and architect named William Bailey, who came to Sydney in 1848. William built the Catherine Hayes Hospital at Randwick and St Mary’s Church, and became Mayor of Newtown.
Samuel married Emma Green of Tamworth in 1870, at the Newtown Wesleyan Church. In April of that year, he found himself at Ulladulla at the time the ship Walter Hood was wrecked near Berrara. The wreck of the Walter Hood was a dramatic affair. In bad weather, Bailey and another man swam out in repeated unsuccessful efforts to get a line to men stranded on the wreckage of the ship. Several passengers and crew drowned before conditions abated and the rest were brought to safety. For his bravery, Bailey was awarded the silver medal of the Royal Humane Society in January 1872.
For a few years, he kept the Commercial Stores at Merriwa, NSW, before moving to the North Shore in the early 1880s. He came to Manly circa 1887, where he lived at ‘Restormel’, 4 East Promenade, built by his father (Restormel is a place in Cornwall), and practised as a land agent. He was elected to Manly Council in February 1886, with 329 votes. Shortly after, Alderman Charles Hayes was ousted from office by a decision of the Supreme Court, and Bailey was one of four Aldermen who resigned in consequence. Fresh elections were held, and he topped the poll with 381 votes. He resigned again in June 1887, perhaps because he was about to be declared insolvent.
The following year he registered a patent for “an improved medium to be used for advertising purposes” – it is not clear what this was, but it had something to do with theatrical advertisements. By 1890 he had become a journalist. He died on 15 October 1896, and is buried at Rookwood cemetery (Old Wesleyan section).
Samuel and Emma had at least seven children. One of them, Mrs Bernice Druce, wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1925 to retell the story of her father’s heroism in the wreck of the Walter Hood.
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