Bailey, Frederick Marshman, 1882-1967, Lieutenant Colonel

201 glass slides taken by F M Bailey during his travels in Tibet and Bhutan. See also, RSAA/L/26, for material from a lecture given by Capt P E I Bailey (nephew) to the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, in 2003.

Frederick Marshman Bailey was born in India, 3 February, 1882. As a young Lieutenant (32nd Sikh Pioneers), he was a member of the military escort to the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (1903-4). He subsequently undertook exploration in Tibet (1911-13), combining surveying duties with an interest in botany and lepidoptery. In 1916, he was awarded the Gold (Patron's) Medal of the Royal Geographical Society "for explorations on the border of India and Tibet ... and especially for tracing the course of the Tsang-po-Brahmaputra." In 1921, he received the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Bailey was wounded twice, at Ypres and Gallipoli (1914-15). In 1918, he was despatched to Tashkent via Kashgar to assess the strength of the Bolshevik regime in that region, and his colourful contribution to what came to be known as the Transcaspian Episode is described in his later account Mission to Tashkent (1946).

Bailey's political appointments were as British Political Officer to Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet (1921-28), British Minister of the Court of Nepal (1935-38), and King's Messenger (1942-43). His principal publications were written in retirement, namely: China-Tibet-Assam: A Journey, 1911; (1945), Mission to Tashkent; (1946), and No Passport to Tibet (1957).

Bailey joined the Central Asian Society after World War I, contributing lectures to the Society from time to time. From 1945-60, he serevd as Hon Librarian of the Royal Central Asian Society, and also served on the Society's Council. Bailey died 17 April, 1967. There is a plaque to his memory in Wiveton Church, Norfolk.