Rev. Gerard Chilton Bailey
Rev. Gerard Chilton Bailey, was born in Panton, Lincolnshire in 1862, the son of Anthony Winter Bailey and Ann Holden. His father was also a priest. Gerard Bailey held preferments at Durban, Newcastle, Estcourt and Harding before moving to Dundee.
He was the first Vicar of St. James Anglican Church from 30 March 1897 until his death three years later. He also served with the Dundee Rifle Association. His appointment coincided with the building of a new church. In January 1896 Dundee became a separate parish (originally part of the parish of Newcastle), and on 30th March 1897 the Rev G C Bailey was inducted as the first Vicar. In the same year, it was decided that a new church would be erected, and shortly afterwards the tender of Messrs Harvey & Retallack and Messrs Ryley & Sons (acting jointly) was accepted: £1485. The Church was completed in 1898, and in the same year a vicarage was built next to it, at a cost of £698. On 8th April, 1899, the new Church was consecrated by Bishop Hamilton Baynes.
The first battle of the Anglo Boer War took place on 20 October 1899, on the slopes of Talana hill just outside Dundee. Rev Bailey and a number of local town people walked to the edge of the town and watched the battle. Dundee was occupied by the Boers, and most of the townspeople left, going to Ladysmith. Rev Bailey, stayed on as Chaplain to the British forces. He hid the parish records under the floor of the church, and the more durable valuables, such as his own personal silver, were buried in the Vicarage garden and potatoes planted over them.
He was an avid amateur photographer and to ensure he could cut a hole in the church floorboards, he took his ruby photographers lamp to the church, placed it on the floor and went back outside to check if the light was visible. He didn’t want to alert anyone, particularly the Boer forces who were starting to enter the town, to his actions. It wasn’t and so he returned to cut open a small hole using a broken bayonet blade. The next evening he returned with all the items he wished to hide and found a Boer on guard duty at the church. Once the guard realised that he was the “dominee” he reassured Rev Bailey that he would stand guard and ensure no-one disturbed him while he was “praying.”
Having conducted the burial service for General Sir William Penn-Symons, he removed the Union Jack in which the body had been wrapped and it joined the parish records under the floorboards. He used the same flag to greet the British troops who retook the town in May 1900, by tying it to a plum tree outside the church.
The trapdoor in the church floorboards can be seen to this day.
Gen Penn Symons grave and Lieut Hannah –the first British soldier to be killed by the shell of a Long Tom cannon are buried in the churchyard. There are memorials to the British dead of the war walls of the Church.
Rev Bailey remained in Dundee throughout the Boer occupation of the town, despite many attempts to remove him to Pretoria. Luckily, his wife, Emma May, had already been evacuated. She spent her time in Durban caring for the refugees and tending the sick.
Rev. Bailey wrote a diary of his experiences, which has been published entitled “Seven Months Under Boer Rule”.
The St. James 75th Anniversary publication records that –
“In 1937, Mrs. Bailey, widow of the first Vicar, sent to the Rev. O. Beattie, who was Vicar at the time, a paper from the “Crawford and Wickfield Weekly” on which there is a photograph of the Union Jack (in her possession) which served as the pall at the funeral of Gen. Penn Symons. Torn and tattered, it had attracted the attention of a Press Correspondent when it was hoisted in the garden of Mrs. Bailey’s home during Coronation Week. It had been presented to her husband by the British troops in recognition of his devoted and courageous services to the troops, and to the civilian population, and for his administration of the rites of burial to the officers, NCO’s and men who had fallen at the battle of Talana”.
Rev. Bailey died of enteric fever on 30 November 1900, aged 38, and is buried in the grounds of St. James’ Church.
The “Advertiser” dated 19 March 1902 records that “… a new altar, made of teak, has been placed in St. James’ Church as a memorial by some of the clergy of the Diocese to the late Vicar of the Parish”. Some £100 Pounds collected by public subscription.
The Union Jack flag mentioned is on display in the Talana Museum, together with a copy of the letter sent to Lady Penn Symons and her reply in 1899.
A parcel arrived for the museum in 1982, with a note explaining that the enclosed flag had been used to drape over the coffin of Gen Penn Symons and later flew over his grave. It was hidden under the church floor boards to protect it during the Boer occupation of Dundee from 22 October 1899 -15 May 1900. As he had died and was buried in Dundee it was believed that the best place for the worn and tattered flag would be in the Dundee (Talana) museum.
Copies of the Bailey diary are available from Talana Museum email info@talana.co.za
