Cyril Bailey,CBE,FBA (13 April 1871 – 5 December 1957) was an English classicist. He was a fellow and tutor atBalliol College, Oxford, from 1902 to 1939.
He was born on 13 April 1871 to Alfred Bailey, abarrister and legal scholar, and his wife Fanny Margaret,née Coles, a merchant's daughter. Hisgodfather (and cousin) was the banker and classical scholar SirWalter Leaf. Cyril attendedSt Paul's School inLondon, before studyingclassics atBalliol College, Oxford (1890–94); he won theCraven andHertfordscholarships.[1]
After graduating with afirst-class degree, Bailey was elected afellow and tutor atExeter College, Oxford, in 1894. He left there in 1902, when he returned to Balliol as a fellow. He remained there for thirty seven years before retiring in 1939.[1] A popular classics tutor and highly regarded lecturer, Bailey was a prominent figure in the life of his college.[1] He epitomised a type of scholar, "of first-rate ability and international reputation who preferred not to seek promotion, titles, or even relief from the duties of teaching, and who were content with the position of tutor at an Oxford college, lavishing much of their time and energy on their pupils."[1]
Bailey also served as thePublic Orator for theUniversity of Oxford between 1932 and 1939, chairman of the council ofLady Margaret Hall, Oxford, from 1921 to 1939, and as a delegate ofOxford University Press from 1921 to 1946, in the latter role being involved in the production of theOxford Latin Dictionary which was published in 1968. His own research focused on the classical philosophersLucretius andEpicurus.[1]
Alongside receiving fivehonorary doctorates, Bailey gave theSather Lectures at theUniversity of California in 1932 and was elected afellow of the British Academy the next year. He was appointed a Commander of theOrder of the British Empire in 1939 for his work as chairman of the Oxford Youth Advisory Committee. He died on 5 December 1957 and was survived by his wife,Gemma (daughter of the historian and bishopMandell Creighton), who had attended the University of Oxford herself, and produced a history of Lady Margaret Hall in 1923. They had four children.[1] Their eldest daughter wasMary Creighton Bailey.[nb 1] Their third child,Rachel Moss (with her husband the Very Rev.Basil Moss), played an important role in liberalisingChurch of England views on sexuality; she editedGod's Yes to Sexuality (1981).[2][3]
