John Clowes Bayley (c1834-1909) of Brown, Bayley and Dixon and of Frederick Braby and Co
1909 Obituary [1]
JOHN CLOWES BAYLEY died on October 10, 1909, at the age of seventy-five.
He began his business career at the steel armour-plate works of Messrs. John Brown & Co., Ltd., Atlas Works, Sheffield, with the growth of which firm he was intimately associated, and ultimately became the London manager of the company, a position he held for twelve years. In this capacity he secured for the firm the first contract with the British Government for armour-plates for H.M.S. Resistance, and for many years afterwards negotiated with the Admiralty other contracts of greater importance.
On account of his knowledge of languages he was selected as the representative of the Atlas Works to visit Russia, Turkey, Belgium, Spain, and other countries, where he was successful in securing many important contracts.
In 1878 he visited Paris to represent his firm's interests at the International Exposition of that year.
He was one of the founders of the firm of Brown, Bayley & Dixon, which was established in Sheffield in 1871, their interest being ultimately transferred to Brown Bayley's Steelworks, Ltd.
He was also one of the original directors of Frederick Braby & Co., Ltd., of London. When the tramway systems of the world began to develop upon an extensive scale, he took an active part in many enterprises, and co-operated in financing, constructing, and working lines in many parts of the world. He was an early concessionaire of haematite iron-ore deposits of Bilbao, Spain, and took a prominent part in the formation of the Bilbao Iron Ore and Railway Company, which, since 1871, has supplied many millions of tons of the raw material for Bessemer steel manufacture in this country.
He was elected a member of the Iron and Steel Institute in 1873.