Rev. Michael Buckworth Bailey M.A. (10 April 1827 - 6 December 1899) was a minister of the

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. As Consular Chaplain to the British Legation in Yokohama, Bailey was one of the first Anglican priests to serve in Japan.

Background and early life

Born in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1827, son of

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missionary Rev. Benjamin Bailey. Educated in Dewsbury, Yorkshire and at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (historically known as "Sussex College" and today referred to informally as "Sidney") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1 ...

. Ordained deacon in 1854 and priest in 1855, thereafter serving as curate in a number of parishes in and around London.

Consular Chaplain in Japan

Appointed in December 1861 as the first Consular Chaplain to the British Legation in

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

. Bailey arrived in Japan in August 1862 and stayed until 1874. Bailey was the appointed priest in charge of

Christ Church, Yokohama Christ Church, Yokohama (横浜山手聖公会 Yokohama Yamate Seikokai), is a historic Anglican church located in Yamate, Yokohama, Japan. Providing a center of worship for both Japanese and English-language congregations the church traces its f ...

, one of the first churches to be constructed in the recently opened treaty port. As well as his church mission work, Bailey was noted for his role as a community organizer; coordinating meetings in the wake of the

Namamugi Incident The , also known as the Kanagawa incident and Richardson affair, was a political crisis that occurred in the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the ''Bakumatsu'' on 14 September 1862. Charles Lennox Richardson, a British merchant, was killed by ...

in 1862. In 1867 Bailey also established a Japanese language monthly periodical, The Bankoku Shimbunshi, publishing 18 volumes over the succeeding two years. Bailey retired on 1 April 1873 and was replaced by Acting Consular Chaplain, Revd. Edward W. Syle (17 February 1817 - 5 October 1890). Syle was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, England, but after emigration to the United States as a young man was a graduate of both

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, Ohio and the

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. The departure of Bailey also marked a significant change in the finances of Christ Church, Yokohama; the British Government withdrawing its annual consular stipend of 400 pounds per annum at the end of 1874.

Later years

Returning to England in 1874, Bailey was serving as parish priest at St. Stephen's,

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, Essex at the time of his death in 1899.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Michael Buckworth 1827 births 1899 deaths Anglican missionaries in Japan British Anglican missionaries