author
Sir Emilius Bayley
1823–1917
A Victorian clergyman, baronet, and occasional writer, he moved between church life, public ceremony, and the world of amateur cricket. His surviving works have the tone of a preacher speaking to his own moment, especially on Anglican life and duty.
1 Audiobook
Episcopal Fidelity
by Sir Emilius Bayley
About the author
Born in London on May 16, 1823, Sir John Robert Laurie Emilius Bayley was an English clergyman who later became the 3rd baronet of his family. He was widely known by his middle name, Emilius, and later changed his surname to Laurie. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, and spent much of his life within the Church of England.
Alongside his clerical career, he was also known in Victorian society as an amateur cricketer. That mix of church service, inherited title, and public life gives his story a distinctly nineteenth-century feel.
As a writer, he is chiefly associated with religious and occasional works rather than novels or large literary projects. One confirmed example is Episcopal Fidelity, a sermon preached in Westminster Abbey in 1877, which shows him writing in a formal, thoughtful style shaped by Anglican belief and public worship. He died in December 1917 at an advanced age, leaving behind the record of a long life spent in ministry and public duty.