AustLit

Mary Bailey was born at Gestingthorpe, Essex. She married the Reverend William Bailey on 2 October 1832. Bailey had an interest in classical literature and language, and in the 1830s several volumes of her poetry were published in England.

In February 1843 William Bailey was convicted of uttering a forged promisory note and subsequently transported for life to Van Dieman's Land. Mary Bailey joined her husband in Hobart where she contributed poetry and translations of classical verse to the Colonial Times.

In 1848 Bailey and her husband opened separate schools for boys and girls in Hobart. By 1855 William Bailey had received a conditional pardon and the couple moved to Sydney.

At the time of her death in 1873 Bailey was living at 308 Palmer Street in Sydney.