Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield (1795–1885)
“The Father of Canadian Hydrography”
At age 22, Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield, a Royal Navy surveyor, was assigned the daunting task of mapping the rough waters of the Great Lakes. He would later chart the St. Lawrence River and Gulf and parts of the eastern coast of Canada. His work spanned more than two decades, culminating in charts that were instrumental in the early development of the country, preventing shipwrecks and saving the lives of countless mariners and immigrants.
Although young Lieutenant Bayfield predicted that the Great Lakes survey would be the “burial” of his naval career, he began mapping the eastern shore of Lake Huron in the fall of 1818.
In 1828, he returned to Lake Huron and surveyed for the Dutch Baron van Tuyll as a reward for services to the British Crown during the Napoleonic War. More than ten years after Bayfield surveyed the coastline of Lake Huron, Baron van Tuyll van Serooskerken purchased, through the Canada Company, two large blocks of land in the Huron Tract on the recommendation of Bayfield. One of the blocks was on the north shore of what would become the Maitland River; there, van Tuyll built a home, which still stands. The other block of land was on the south bank of the “rivulet” (Bayfield River) previoiusly surveyed by Lieutenant Bayfield.
A settlement soon established that Baron van Tuyll named Bayfield, in honour of the naval surveyor.
Survey of lower part of Lake Huron
“To say that Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield was the greatest hydrographic surveyor in Canadian history is to damn him with faint praise. From the Lakehead to Labrador, Henry Bayfield spent 40 years mapping Canada’s vast coasts and inland waterways as a surveyor for the British Admiralty. His navigational charts saved countless lives and vessels from shipwreck. Bayfield quite literally put the waterways leading to the heart of North America on the map.”
— David Yates
Master chart maker of the Great Lakes and
St. Lawrence River
Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield
By David Yates
Published September 2021
A riveting biography of a remarkable man. David Yates brings to life the powerful personality and extraordinary career of Henry Bayfield, taking us on travels through the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, and Atlantic coast in small boats on rough waters, through extremes of suffocating heat and bitter cold, clouds of mosquitoes, and barely tolerable living conditions. Out of these journeys came the maps and navigation charts that saved thousands of lives from shipwrecks – carefully crafted by the greatest hydrographic surveyor in Canadian history. This is some story, and it deserves to be remembered.
David A. Wilson, F.R.Hist.S., FRSC
General Editor, Dictionary of Canadian Biography
Professor, History and Celtic Studies University of Toronto
48 pages, full colour
Limited-edition numbered and signed hardcover: $40.
Quality saddled-stitched softcover: $20.
Available at the Archives & Heritage Centre, 20 Main St., Bayfield.
Copies can be ordered at bhsmembers@gmail.com, A shipping fee will apply if you would like your copy mailed. The shipping fee is $7 for one copy. (We will quote a fee for multiple copies.)
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Admiral Bayfield Square
Visit Admiral Bayfield Square! Officially opened in July 2022, it is tucked between our archives building and the library. you will find a statue of the pioneer surveyor and information panels with some of his maps, paying tribute to our village’s namesake.
To purchase David Yates’ book: Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield, click purchase.
