Kenneth Bailey, 1909-1963

Abstract

Kenneth Bailey died on 22 May 1963, just a couple of years after his old friend and collaborator W. T. Astbury, and by their passing protein chemistry has lost two devoted followers who first joined forces in 1934, when Kenneth was a research student of mine at the Imperial College. In those days the protein world as we know it today was but being made, and these two men— each in his own different way—did more than their share of the pioneer work which helped to fashion the striking advances witnessed in more recent years. It was my privilege to stand very near Bailey in the early stages of his career, when his life was an expression of mental and moral integrity. Unlike Astbury, who was open-hearted and never tried to hide his feelings, Bailey was always somewhat reserved, and in social intercourse he made an impression, especially upon the young, which those who did not know him well may not have fully understood. Both men had been moulded in youth by their environment on the fringe of the Potteries, and when Bailey was paying tribute at Astbury’s memorial service in Emmanuel Church, Leeds, on 15 June 1961, his eloquent words illuminated his own upbringing as vividly as that of his friend.