Admiral Henry Wolsey Bayfield was truly a remarkable man. For almost forty years, Admiral Bayfield worked as a Royal Navy Surveyor in Canada. In the 1800s, Canadian charts were still developed under the direction of the British Admiralty. Bayfield's contribution to Canadian hydrography included approximately 114 charts out of the 215 Admiralty Charts which were issued of Canadian waters. The total attributed to Bayfield is some 53% of the charts produced until 1867! He started working on hydrographic surveys at the age of 11. He first saw Canada in 1810 at the age of 15. He began his hydrographic surveying career in 1816. By 1822, at the age of 27, Bayfield had completed the first hydrographic survey of Lake Huron. The next year he continued his work on Lake Superior, which at that time was unknown to everyone except the native Indians. Admiral Bayfield is also known as the hydrographer who started charting the St. Lawrence River in 1827 and continued for many years. In his opinion, "there were no other parts of the world in which more boat accidents occurred." By it's name the city of Bayfield honors Admiral Henry Bayfield who prepared charts of Chequamegon Bay area from 1823-1825. Bayfield had it's start in 1856 when Henry Rice began the Bayfield Land Company.


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