Mr P.N. Bayley
We are sorry to record the death of member Mr P. N. Bayley of Minchinhampton, who, long before the Society was formed, had many links with Tyndale, and especially the few square miles of Gloucestershire in which the translator was born and grew up.
In 1956, when Neil Bayley from London joined the Dursley firm of solicitors, Penley and Milward (soon to be Penley, Milward and Bayley) he found, to his surprise, that he was Clerk to Tyndale's Monument at North Nibley. He remained Clerk for thirty-five years. During that time people from all over the world, some of whom were Tyndale family descendents, came to see him to talk with him about William Tyndale.
His interest grew, and he lectured on Tyndale widely in the area, to the W.I., the Rotary Club, local history societies and many more -- well over a hundred occasions when audiences reported how vividly he brought Tyndale to life. In 1985 he was responsible for a successful appeal to raise money to repair the Monument. On his retirement as Clerk in 1992 the remaining Trustees presented him with a fine photograph, an aerial view of the Monument and surrounding countryside, something that created more interest in visitors and inspired many of them to make the steep climb up to the Monument.
I have a keen memory of conversations with him. He is already sorely missed, and we send thoughts and prayers to his widow, Jennifer.
David Daniell
Jim White
His many friends in the Tyndale Society will be sorry to learn of the death of Jim White of Durborough Farm, Bridgwater, Somerset.
His Cambridge degree (Downing College, History) was followed twenty years later by Economics externally from London. He worked at the Treasurary and then, for a quarter of a century, and significantly, for the Ministry of Defence. He was already a farmer, however, on the side, joining his wife and family at weekends in the West Country, and running a farm in Sussex during the week even while he worked in London. Taking retirement early, he moved permanently in 1984 to the 250-acre farm in Somerset, being as well a Commoner on Quantock Common. He was indefatigable in work for the Somerset National Farmers’ Union and in many areas of conservation. Intensely practical and energetic, he built, planted, read, planned, debated and tried out many things. A keen lay reader, he became an active member of the Church of England General Synod.
He shared with his friend The Rt Revd Jim Thompson, Bishop of Bath and Wells, a number of social concerns, particularly in the needs of the deaf. Though in his seventies, to raise money for the deaf he undertook a sponsored, and ambitious, cycle ride in Cuba last December. Throughout the autumn he trained vigorously in the West Country and took lessons in Spanish. It was on this endeavour in Cuba on 7 December last that he had a heart attack and died.
Jim White was one of the founder members of the Tyndale Society, a valued presence at lectures, and always the first to book for conferences. Many of us have memories of conversations, and good times, with him. We extend to his widow, Janet, and all his family our deepest sympathy and prayers.
David Daniell