Sir Lewis Bayly was born in 1857 at Woolwich, London. Joining the Royal Navy in 1870, he qualified as a navigating cadet in 1872, serving in West Africa, the Congo and the Egyptian War of 1882. Promoted lieutenant in 1881, he was appointed naval attach to the United States in 1900, a post he held until 1902. After serving on the China station and in the Mediterranean, he was selected for the command of the destroyer flotillas in the Home Fleet with the rank of commodore in 1907. The following year, he was appointed president of the War College at Portsmouth, retaining this post until 1911 when he was given command of the first battle-cruiser squadron. Promoted vice-admiral at the outbreak of the First World War, he served as commander-in-chief of an Anglo-American force engaged in the anti-submarine campaign in the Western Approaches, off the coast of Ireland. He was knighted in 1914 and promoted admiral in 1917, retiring from the Royal Navy two years later. He died in London in 1938.
From the guide to the Sir Lewis Bayly collection, 1906, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
