Bayley, called in Latin Bailæus and in English books also Baley and Baily, was born at Portesham, Dorset, in which county his father was a squire.
He is buried in the Chapel of New College, and his son William put up a tablet to his memory.
Mainly it is an exposition in English of the opinions on its topic of Rhases, Avicenna, Arnaldus de Villa Nova, and other medieval authorities.The book contains an observation of his own, recording how one Hoorde preserved his sight till over 84 years of age, by the use of eye-bright, in ale and eggs.
It also comments on the new method of brewing that had come in during Queen Elizabeth's reign, with some still preferring ale made with "grout" (a plant used before hops, according to the Oxford English Dictionary).
In 1587 Bayley published A Brief Discourse of Certain Bathes of Medicinal Waters in the County of Warwick.