Legal Definitions - water bayley

A water bayley was a historical official, particularly in early colonial settlements, whose primary responsibility was to collect fees or taxes on fish harvested from the colony's designated waterways. This role was crucial for generating revenue from a vital natural resource.

Here are some examples illustrating the function of a water bayley:

• Imagine a bustling 17th-century coastal colony where fishing is a primary industry. A local fisherman returns to port with a large catch of cod and mackerel from the colony's designated fishing grounds. Before he can sell his haul at the market, he would be required to report his catch to the water bayley. The water bayley would then assess the quantity and type of fish and collect the appropriate fee or tax on behalf of the colonial government.

  This example demonstrates the water bayley's role in collecting dues directly from individuals harvesting fish within the colony's jurisdiction.

• Consider an inland colonial settlement situated along a productive river, where families regularly caught salmon and trout for sustenance and trade. The water bayley for that region would periodically visit the riverbank communities or fishing camps. Their duty would be to ensure that all individuals or groups harvesting fish from the river paid their designated share to the colonial administration, thereby contributing to the colony's treasury.

  This illustrates the water bayley's function extending to inland waterways and ensuring compliance with colonial fishing regulations and revenue collection.

• A colonial government, seeking to fund public infrastructure projects like a new wharf or a defensive fort, might rely heavily on revenue from its natural resources. If a merchant vessel arrived at a colonial port with a large quantity of salted fish, which had been caught by its crew within the colony's territorial waters, the water bayley would be responsible for calculating and collecting the required tax or duty on that commercial catch before the fish could be unloaded and traded within the colony.

  This example highlights the water bayley's role in generating revenue for the colony from commercial fishing operations, ensuring that even larger-scale harvests contributed financially.