[2] He was educated at King's College in Auckland, before returning to Fiji to work for HM Customs.
[3] Despite being the wealthiest man in Fiji,[4] Bayly was known for his austere lifestyle, eschewing social life, never marrying and using boxes instead of tables and chairs at home.
[5] Bayly contested the Western constituency in the 1920 Legislative Council elections, but was defeated by Charles Wimbledon Thomas.
He did not run in 1923 or 1926, but returned to contest the Western seat again in the 1929 elections, beating Thomas by nine votes and the incumbent Percival William Faddy by 35.
Bayly was an advocate of opening the franchise to ethnic Fijians,[7] who were not able to vote until 1963, and even travelled to the UK with Alport Barker at his own expense to make the case to British authorities.