British naval officer and surveyor, b. Hull, Yorkshire, England. He entered the Royal Navy, in 1817 was appointed Admiralty surveyor in British North America, and attained the rank of admiral in 1867. He made surveys of Lake Superior (1822-1823) from which he prepared this lake's first accurate chart, published in 1828. In memory of his services, the peninsula, county, and town of Bayfield in Wisconsin are named for him. Encyclopedia of Canada (6 vols., Toronto, 1935-1937); WPA MS.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Henry Wolsey Bayfield Biographical Sketch for details.

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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]