A KEY figure in the history of the Gloucestershire Gazette and the town of Dursley passed away last week.

Michael Bailey, son of Frederick George Bailey and brother of Peter Bailey, died in Oxfordshire last Wednesday at the age of 89.

Michael was managing director of the Bailey Newspaper Group for several decades.

Born in 1925, Michael arrived shortly after his father took over the reins of the family business.

He was educated at Dursley Secondary School (now Rednock) and Wycliffe College, where he met headmasters Mr E Barrett and Mr W A Sibly respectively.

The pair were a great influence on Michael, and through them he said he “learned tolerance and the need to look at all sides of a problem.”

In 1943 at the age of 17, Michael volunteered to serve in the army and joined the Royal Corps of Signals, reaching the rank of sergeant.

He was later one of the first to enter Hiroshima following the atom bomb blast that devastated the Japanese city, joining his corps to assist with the fallout.

He returned home in 1947 and despite having a place atQueen’s College, Oxford, to read history, he instead stayed at home to help with the business.

Michael would go on to serve the series of newspapers owned by the Bailey Newspaper Group for the majority of his life, and was responsible for the continued success of the Gazette series, as well as the formation of the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard and the Stroud News and Journal.

When interviewed for Family in Print, a book covering the history of the Bailey family, in the 1990s, Michael spoke of his continued passion for the newspaper business.

“Our guiding aim was to print as much local news in as much detail as possible and with as many photographs as we had room for, “ he said.

“Profitability of the papers was always of secondary importance. Contrary to what many of the public may think, weekly newspapers, certainly in rural areas, have never been a passport to great riches.

“But it has been a wonderful way of life and I am as interested and enthusiastic about the business as the day I started more than 50 years ago.”

In addition to the business, Michael was also chairman of the Stinchcombe Hill Trust for 12 years and a member for more than 25 years, saying he was “never happier” than when walking in woods and paths around Dursley. He could also be seen regularly cutting the grass at St James’ Church at the top of Long Street.

He had a lifelong passion for cricket and was secretary of Dursley Cricket Club for many years. In his retirement he enjoyed watching his grandchildren play cricket, combining his sporting passion with his love of travel and following his grandsons on cricket tours in South Africa and Barbados.

Another great joy in his life was his model railway, which he picked up at a young age and continued to enjoy for as long as he could.

Michael’s son in law Nick Priest took over the business with Martyn Williams following his father in law’s time in the role of managing director.

He said: “Michael was a mild mannered, unassuming but incredibly supportive, kind and generous man. There’s not anything else one would say about him.

“Having met him, it was, in a way, almost hard to appreciate how someone so gentle had achieved so much – but as you got to know him you realised why.

“It was his very nature that commanded such loyalty from people.”

Carole Taylor was given a job by Michael at the Stroud News and Journal. She would go on to become editor of Gazette.

She said: “He was very unassuming. You would never have thought he was the boss – a very very nice guy and a real gentleman.

“Both Michael and Peter knew all the staff by name and we even received personal Christmas cards and gifts from them.

“It’s the end of a dynasty and we’ll never see the likes of that kind of family-run business again. It wasn’t just the Bailey family, everyone that worked for them felt like family as well.”

Roy Baldwin first worked with Michael when the Bailey family acquired the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard in 1959. Initially he oversaw the composing room but went on to work in newspaper sales.

He said: “Michael and all of the Bailey family were purely dedicated to the newspaper group.

“Michael and Peter Bailey oversaw a great deal of expansion within the paper, and were responsible for the acquisition of a number of titles in South Wales.

“The Baileys were not the type of tycoons many would imagine. They were quiet - but never missed an opportunity to expand the business.

“The Bailey dynasty is now finished, but it is a great legacy they have in the newspaper group. Let us hope the legacy continues for a long time yet.”

Michael is survived by his wife Kathleen, his two daughters and nine grandchildren.