Unique Eastern Caribbean Observatory - Harry Bayley

Named after Dr. Harry Bayley, distinguished Barbadian and keen amateur astronomer, Harry Bayley Observatory is the only one of its kind in the Eastern Caribbean. Situated in Clapham, St. Michael, the Observatory was officially opened in 1963, and has been recently refurbished and re-equipped with a 16-inch Meade telescope, and a Lunt 80mm solar telescope, thanks to the generosity of the Sfumato Foundation.

“Dr. Bayley (1908-1958) was perhaps the most brilliant Barbadian physician of his own or any previous generation. He carried out research on many topics and earned an MD (Cambridge) for his individual work on the disease leptospirosis in the 1940s, demonstrating the real cause of what had been known for generations as ‘Barbados jaundice’. He built the first modern hospital and medical laboratory in Barbados (the Diagnostic Clinic) and introduced many techniques of modern laboratory and clinical medicine to Barbados.”

^{A~Z of Barbados Heritage by S. Carrington, H. Fraser, J. Gilmore & A. Forde; MacMillan Caribbean}

The Barbados Astronomical Society is an incorporated, non-profit organization of amateur astronomers, and was founded on June 12, 1956, by Dr. Harry Bayley and Mr. Eustace Thomas. When Dr. Bayley died in 1958, the membership voted to erect an observatory in his memory. An acre of land at Clapham, St. Michael, was donated for the site of the building which was designed by the late Barbara Hill. Following a five-year campaign of fund-raising by members and donations from a generous public, the observatory was constructed and finally dedicated in January 1963.

The society was developed to promote, foster and develop the knowledge of astronomy to residents of, and visitors to, Barbados.