[citation needed] After the outbreak of the Second Boer War in October 1899, a corps of imperial volunteers from London was formed in late December 1899.

[3] He saw active service in South Africa with a different regiment, and returned to the United Kingdom in July 1900 on the RMS Dunottar Castle.

[4] In October 1902, Bailey stood unopposed as a Progressive Party candidate for the Barkly West constituency of the Cape Colony Legislative Assembly.

Via his business interests and his ties to Cecil Rhodes, Abe Bailey acquired substantial mining and land properties in the former Rhodesia.

[10] Later he played an important role in initiating the 1912 Triangular Tournament between England, Australia and South Africa, who at the time were the only Test-playing countries.

He first proposed the idea on a trip to England in 1907, stating: "Inter-rivalry within the Empire cannot fail to draw together in closer friendly interest all those many thousands of our kinsmen who regard cricket as our national sport, while secondly it would probably give a direct stimulus to amateurism."

Infighting and a poor performance from the South African team in 1912 ensured that the idea of a three-nation Test match tournament was not repeated.

Mary Westenra Bailey was the greatest British female aviator of her time, who "personally guided a plane from England to the nether tip of South Africa and back".