Mrs. BAILEY & children from London to Melbourne aboard the Aerolite (1855).

[fretep]

Hoping someone may know something about Mrs. BAILEY and her two children who arrived in Melbourne in 1855 aboard the 'Aerolite' from London. The passenger-list simply records her as Mrs BAYLEY (aged ?29 or ?21), with her two children: a boy aged 4 and a girl aged 2, travelling within the cabin.

Also travelling within the cabin was Henry ADENEY, who kept a diary while on board. From this diary, it would appear as though the passenger-list was in error and that the children's ages had been reversed. Within the diary Mrs. BAILEY is only ever referred to as Mrs. BAILEY or Mrs. B. Her son, Tommy, was aged 2 1/2 years and her daughter appears to have been named Barbara (or Barbary). It was believed that she was a widow. Unfortunately, no further detail was recorded about her to help trace her identity.

I am trying to find a Mrs Elizabeth BAILEY who apparently had a son named John Francis BAILEY (sometime prior to 1864). Unfortunately, I don't know where she lived; not even which country she resided in. However, I suspect (from other circumstantial evidence) that she may have been the Mrs. BAILEY mentioned above, aboard the Aerolite.

Would love to hear from anyone who knows or suspects that they may be related to either family.

[cando]

From the Public Records Office of Victoria Unassisted Immigrants Index.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01gzz/

I read the copy of the AEROLITE manifest to be Mrs I or possibly L BAYLEY 24 years and children 2 years and 4 years.

Looking at the other 7 5 and 9's on the manifest...they look nothing like the 4 in the 24 for Mrs BAYLEY's age.

[majm]

Elizabeth BAYLEY  aged 25 and Alfred BAYLEY aged 22  arrived on the Hope in July 1855.

I am trying to find a Mrs Elizabeth BAILEY  ......

ADD
Outward Bound from Victoria to London, March 1856
E BAYLEY, aged 29 on the Medway

Cheers,  JM

[cando]

her daughter appears to have been named Barbara (or Barbary).

Births Jun 1851 
BAILEY    Barbara Blair     Sunderland 24/370   

Births Sep 1851   
BAILEY Barbara         Mitford 13/240

Cando

[fretep]

Thank you for your rapid replies cando and majm. 

Mrs. BAYLEY's age may well have been recorded as 24, yet it is difficult to be sure due to the blot. If the second digit is a 4, it is certainly different from the 4 used for her child's age. As for her initial, I'm not so sure that there is one. Most names do include an initial, yet not all.  Note the passenger named ROSE. His initial certainly appears to be a 'B', which is not dissimilar to the 'B' used in BAYLEY (apart from the slight smudge). The vertical stroke of this B is similarly separated from the looping portion of the character.

As I have found no evidence for this family (as yet) within later Australian records, it is certainly possible that their stay was brief. However, there was only one BAYLEY listed on the Medway in 1856, so I doubt that the Mrs BAYLEY in question would have left Australia without her children.

The Barbara BAILEY whose birth was registered in Sunderland in 1851 was possibly the daughter of William & Ann, while the Barbara registered in Mitford in 1851 was possibly the daughter of Robert & Thirza. I will need to study these families further before I can say whether or not there may be a connection to Mrs BAYLEY of the Aerolite. Whatever the outcome, they don't appear to be connected to my Mrs. Elizabeth BAILEY.