Origins of clockwork / windup radio?

Many many things are invented, then lost or not manufactured, then reinvented later.

This is in that category. The "invention", if it is one, is pretty obvious, combining a hand crank generator that makes DC electricity, with a radio that needed DC electricity.

In the 30's, my guess is that, because of tubes (no transistors available then) the power needed from the generator required a lot of continuous effort, about like riding a bike uphill. And that continuous effort made it not very popular.

They were indeed around in the 1930's. In fact hand-crank powered transmitters, never mind receivers, were in common use during World War 2, carried on many military aircraft for use if the 'plane made a forced landing and lost power.

WW2 models included the German Notsender NS2, the British T113 and the US SCR-578 (nicknamed the 'Gibson Girl' by airmen because of its hourglass shape).

Mr Bayliss's real achievement was not inventing the clockwork radio (all the parts were very well known by that time) but realising the importance of radio sets which did not need mains or battery power in reducing the spread of AIDS in Africa. He urged their manufacture and distribution around Africa, where by giving isolated rural people better access to accurate information about AIDS and how to avoid it, they probably played a useful role in controlling the disease.

Promoting them in affluent countries where mains or rechargeable battery power are easily available was a bit of a gimmick. Anyone really wanting to save electricity would do so much more effectively by cutting car use a little than by using a wind-up radio instead of one run on a rechargeable battery.