Francis Joseph Bayldon

Who was Francis Joseph Bayldon?

Francis Joseph Bayldon MBE was an Australian master mariner and nautical instructor. Born in England, he was apprenticed to Devitt & Moore, and was an officer on their passenger ships, on a route that circled the globe, around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. He was later with the Canadian-Australian Line, sailing between Vancouver and Sydney, Australia. He was on the Burns Philp ship the Moresby in 1901–1902.

He helped correct nautical charts for Pacific navigation. Bayldon Shoals, near Tulagi in the Solomon Islands, is named for him.

He was a fellow of the Royal Australian Historical Society, and in 1925, published an article on the journeys of Luis Váez de Torres from the New Hebrides to the Moluccas. He was also a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.