A History of the Bates Family

AHistory of the Bates Family

PREFACE

 

This is my third - and last - attempt to tell the history ofour family.  Whilst in places it leansheavily on the first two, it incorporates a lot of new material and hopefullyresults in a more coherent account.

 

Whilst researching and writing the first account I wasindebted to Mrs Liz Longhurst, Mrs Mary Gill and Mrs Joyce Nicholl who providedme with a great deal of material and information.  My debt now extends to Mr David Baines, a local historian, whoseresearch into the history of Hertfordshire, and in particularly into thehistory of Offley and district, has been extremely valuable to me.  I have quoted quite frequently from hisbook, "Two Coats Colder - Chronicles of Offley in Hertfordshire",published in 1994. Also to Mrs Rosemary Day, a distant cousin, who, instumbling upon the Bates' as part of her researches into her own family, hasdiscovered members of my family that had previously eluded me.

My hope is that this account will prove interesting tomembers of our family both present and future and that the strivings of pastgenerations can prove to be an inspiration for those to come.

 

My researches into the Bates family reveal nothing that istruly out of the ordinary, yet much that is of interest.   They reveal a typically Englishlower/middle class family that has worked hard to maintain some very Englishcharacteristics and traditions.  Theseinclude such traits as respectability, decency, stability, devotion, financialindependence and respect for law, order and the accepted standards ofbehaviour.  Along the way there hasoccurred the occasional tragedy that is counter-balanced by the occasionalachievement that is demonstrably outstanding. There are many examples of much honest toil and good living which, inturn, is countered by the odd 'skeleton' and acts of minor indiscretion or evenwickedness.   The researches have alsorevealed the changing nature of society over the centuries, especially from aneconomic, social and religious point of view, and the way individuals havereacted to those changes.

 

Originating in the County of Hertfordshire, England andbelonging to a static close-knit, rural community, the Bates family now extendsto the U.S.A. and the Antipodes, although they remain essentially an Englishfamily.  Their occupations, interests,way of life and beliefs have changed out of all recognition over the past threecenturies, yet the needs of the individual remain essentially the same - to bebrought up in a warm, caring environment, to be loved, to marry and raise afamily, to make something of oneself in one's chosen career and to enjoy thefruits of those labours, especially in declining years.  These traits form a common thread over thecenturies and, as good fortune would have it, the Bates family has been able,in the main, to enjoy the fruits of their labour amidst much good health andlongevity.

 

Peter John Bates

1998

                                                                                            

INTRODUCTION

 

The first mention of the Bates name is to be found inYorkshire where the name occurred well before the Norman Conquest of 1066.  In origin, it would appear that the nameeither derived from Bartholomew and Bate or Bates was a pet form of the nameand therefore meant Bartholomew's son, or the name is claimed by some to bederived from the Old English word 'bat' meaning boat, thus signifying boatman.

 

The family name Bates emerged as a notable English familyname in the county of Yorkshire, where they settled in the East Riding.  By the year 1200 they had moved intoNorthumberland and in 1270 the death of Thomas del Bate was recorded in thecounty.  The family also moved intoScotland to escape the oppression of the Norman overlords.  Walter Bate rendered homage to Edward Iduring his brief conquest of Scotland; Walter held estates in Lanarkshire.  In Northumberland the family seat was atMillbourne Hall and Ovington Hall. Thomas Bates of Morpeth was an MP and a great friend of Queen Mary andher half-sister Queen Elizabeth I.

 

By the Seventeenth Century the Bates family was welldispersed and elements of it could have been found in most parts of thecountry.

 

The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms in the Bates namewas a design consisting of 3 silver Right hands, palm forward, on a blackbackground.  The crest was a naked manholding a willow wand and the family motto for the 'ancient and distinguished'family of Bates was "Et Manu Et Corde" - "With heart andhand".

 

The earliest origins of the branch of the Bates family towhich the author belongs have been traced to the parish of Great Offley inHertfordshire.

 

 

 

Generation No. 1 

 

 

An Attempt to Unravel the Mystery of theOrigins of the Offley Connection

 

The earliest known member of ourBates family - and it must be remembered that as a family name it has beenshared by many hundreds of families both in this country and abroad - was JohnBates.  The date of his birth isunrecorded but in all probability he was born some time in the 1640's.  Whether or not he was born in Hertfordshireremains, at present, a mystery. Extraneous evidence concerning the origins of the Bates family providesus with somewhat conflicting possibilities. The Act of Settlement passed by Parliament in 1662 - an Act which madeit more difficult for poor families to move from their places of birth - couldsuggest that an inward migration of John Bates' family or ancestors toHertfordshire, if indeed that did occur, probably happened before 1662.  The 1653 Act of Parliament which gaveparishes the responsibility for appointing a Parish Registrar to keep ParishRegisters recording baptisms, marriages and deaths ought, if extant for Offley Parish,enable us to identify any evidence of the Bates' living in Offley orthereabouts in the years immediately following 1653.  We know from Baines (1994) that "John Deremer of Offley wasappointed to that office and the same year the Offley Registers for baptism andmarriages began, with the register for deaths commencing the followingyear.  Most of the records have survivedthough some are difficult to read and others decidedly muddled" (p.15).  These records, however, do not reveal anydefinite clues which would enable us to determine where our 1st generationJohn Bates was born.  The earliestidentified recording of a Bates family entry in the Offley Parish register isin the year 1708.  It is that of theburial of Lettice Bates (nee Brock), wife of John Bates on 22 September1708.  In that the Offley ParishRegisters date from 1653 this suggests that the Bates family did not live inOffley before the latter part of the Seventeenth Century.  The Hertfordshire Quarter Sessions Book -sessions held at Hertford - records that on July 12th 1686 John Bates was swornpetty constable of Offley in place of James Arnold, and this represents animportant clue in identifying the whereabouts of the Bates family in the secondhalf of the Seventeenth Century.  Whateverconclusions we may care to come to however, based on the evidence that promptsthem, though persuasive, are neither final nor irrefutable and the centralquestion of the origins of the first recorded John Bates remains unanswered. 

 

Intriguing and sketchy are wordswhich best describe not only John Bates's origins but also his life and familyconnections.  We do know that on 30December 1679 he married Lettice Brock, by licence, at St Mary's Church,Hitchen.  John was probably a farmlabourer or tenant farmer by trade and by 1686 was sufficiently well thought ofas a man of character and integrity to be appointed the local parish pettyconstable for Offley.  Lettice Brockdied in 1708 and was buried at Offley, and she bore for him at least twochildren, John Bates, born in 1692 and Mary Bates.  It is quite likely that John (1640) had at least one brotherliving locally, and in 1711 John remarried, his second wife being one SarahWelsh.  He married Sarah, by banns, on20 July 1711, the wedding taking place at Offley Parish Church. On thisoccasion he was described a ‘gentleman’. It can only be assumed John was doingwell in life.

 

A relative, described as a labourerand confusingly also called John Bates is recorded as being buried at Offley on6 October 1761. His wife, Mary was buried on 22 September 1745. Both burialstook place at Offley.

 

There isplenty of evidence that points to the fact that Bates was not an uncommon namein the Hertfordshire area at this time. A John Bates married a Mary Hously inBaldock in 1715; various births, deaths and marriages of Bates’ are alsorecorded in Flamstead, Great Gaddesden, Harpenden, St. Albans, South Ippolits,Wiggington, Hemel Hempstead, Freesden and Kings Langley at this time. Theremight well have been a large number of Bates’ during this period living in thecounty who could all have described themselves as related to each other or partof a widely spread, extended family. However, as Bates is not an unusual name,it would be imprudent to make any such rash assertion. Given the extent andnature of my researches, it seems fairly certain that for my purposes, it isnecessary for me to focus firmly on Great Offley and the immediate surroundingarea to discover the earliest possible origins of my family.

 

By the time it is possible toidentify positively the first known ancestors of our family, the village andparish with which they were to be most closely identified for the best part of200 years - namely (Great) Offley - was already well established.  It was mentioned in the Domesday Book in1086, the Church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, dates from the earlyThirteenth Century (and probably earlier) and 5 church bells were installedbetween 1583 and 1632.  As Baines (1994)concluded, “The installation of 5 bells round about 1600 must indicate a periodof relative prosperity for the village and at least for its leading land ownersand farmers ....." (p.14).  He goeson to add a note of caution however in our attempts to form a picture of whatthe village and parish would have been like at this time by stating,"however the village must still have been quite small as a Terrier (arecord of land holdings) was issued in 1638 showing a total of 131/2  acres for church glebe land and a further1/2 acre of the churchyard" (p.14). 

 

By the second half of theSeventeenth Century, the Civil War was becoming a distant memory.  As far as Offley was concerned the period ofcivil and military upheavals between 1640-1660 appears not to have unduly disturbedthe inhabitants.  The area was largelyParliamentarian in sympathy and apart from the occasional enlistment toCromwell's New Model Army, the people of Offley would seem to have largelyignored events.  Consequently the annualcycle of agrarian activity, interspersed with the festivities of ‘Holy Days’and punctuated by the inevitable births, marriages and deaths continued in itsapparently timeless fashion.  Life forvillage folk would have been hard, often tedious and without the abundance andchoice which characterises modern life. Nevertheless the envy, greed and apparent frequent unhappiness that areoften characteristics of modern Twentieth Century western society would havebeen almost certainly absent from rural folk's experiences during theSeventeenth Century.  Instead a sense ofbelonging to a self-sufficient agrarian community, of being part of anunchanging and unchangeable unfolding of endless generations, of beingsustained by immutable, if unsophisticated, beliefs and of having a role,however humble, in the mystery of the Universe and the unfolding of theAlmighty's plan; these would have been how Offley man and woman at the time, ifthey had been able to articulate their thoughts, would have explained howthings were.

 

The Seventeenth Century saw the consolidationof the most important of the land-owning units of the village, the Manor ofOffley St Legers, in the hands of the Spencer family, a wealthy Midland familywhose descendants include Winston Churchill and the late Princess of Wales.Offley Place became the embodiment of the family's wealth and position in thevillage. Needless to say the family exerted a powerful influence over thevillage and the church.  The ownershipof the Manor and of Offley Place was to change hands many times throughout thecenturies but until very recent times these properties continued to dominatethe economic and social life of both the village and the parish.  Other important properties which hadalready, by the Seventeenth Century, sprung into existence in and around the villageof Offley included Wellbury (originally the Manor of Welle, mentioned in theDomesday Book), Little Offley (to the north of the village), Westbury Farm (asearly as 1085 this manor consisted of nearly 1,000 acres) and Angels Farm,including what later became Great Offley House.  The latter two properties were eventually to become homes ofmembers of the Bates family.

 

However the vast majority of villagepeople at this time, numbering perhaps 500 or so souls, would have lived inaltogether meaner and more humble surroundings, in houses long sincedemolished.  Only a few of the mostprominent buildings of the Seventeenth Century survive today, along with themuch altered Green Man Public House. There was not even a public well in thevillage until the turn of the last century.

 

Apartfrom the occasional episode of lawlessness, such as the outbreak of rioting inOffley in 1665, an episode which occurred at the time when the plague wasrampant throughout the country, and the routine dangers and problems besettingtravellers throughout the land (Offley by no means escaped the attention ofhighwaymen and 'footpads' both of whom caused the authorities muchconsternation), life in Offley would have been relatively free from seriouscrime.  Even so, John Bates wasappointed petty constable for Offley in 1686, recognition not only of theregard in which he was held locally, but also of the need to constrain peoplefrom dishonest acts and taking the law into their own hands.  The Seventeenth Century ended, however, on anote of high drama and dismay.  In 1698the Vicar of Offley, Richard Willowes was "barbarously murdered as he camehome from Hitchin" (Baines, p.15). His murderers were never apprehended. It would be uncharitable to suppose that this was in any way due to JohnBates' negligence or lack of commitment to his role as Offley Parish Constable.

 

 

1.  JOHN1 BATES (I) was born 1640 - 1650.  He married (1) LETTICE BROCK 30 Dec 1679 in Hitchen, Herts,England.  She died 1708 and buried 22Sep 1708 in Offley, Herts, England.  Hemarried (2) SARAH WELSH20 Jul 1711 in Offley, Herts, England. 

 

The earliest known member of ourBates family was John Bates.  The date of his birth is unrecorded but inall probability he was born sometime in the 1640's.  It is quite likely that John (I) had at least one brother livinglocally, and in 1711 John remarried, his second wife being one SarahWelsh.  He married Sarah, by banns, on20 July 1711, the wedding taking place at Offley Parish Church. On this occasionhe was described a ‘gentleman’. It can only be assumed John was doing well inlife.

 

John Bates was appointed pettyconstable for Offley in 1686, recognition not only of the regard in which hewas held locally, but also of the need to constrain people from dishonest actsand taking the law into their own hands.

 

Children of JOHN BATES and LETTICE BROCK are:

2.         i.   JOHN2 BATES II, b. 1692 and d. Aug 1719 inOffley, Herts, England.

               ii.   MARY BATES,m. JOHN HANLEY,1710.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 2 

 

 

The second generation ofthe Bates family of Offley continued to span the 17th and 18thCenturies.

 

We can imagine fairlyreadily what sort of life John and Mary Bates enjoyed during the relativelyshort time they had together as man and wife in their role of 2nd generationBates'. Undoubtedly they and their family worshipped regularly at the parishchurch in Offley, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.  Here John would have recalled the ministry of such rectors andvicars as Richard Willowes, "barbarously murdered by highwaymen as he camehome from Hitchen" in 1698; William Thomas who would have baptised Johnand Elizabeth. His widow, Mary would have sat in the uncomfortable pews of StMary Magdalene and been ministered to by Thomas Dane, Thomas Osborn, GeorgeAult, Thomas Ringer and Thelwall St Salusbury who became one of the longestserving and most eminent of Offley's spiritual mentors.  She would have marvelled at the valuablepieces of silver plate that the church received in 1730, a fine set of typicalchurch ornaments (chalice, paten - used as an alms dish - and flagon) which wasvalued in 1749 at £60.  The silverwarewas kept in a box in a chest with 3 locks; it would appear that the presentgeneration is not the only one with problems of theft from holy places. Marywould have witnessed, in ecclesiastical terms, what Baines (p.16) describes as"the heyday of the fortunes of the church".  In 1761, some years after Mary had died a new chancel wasinstalled and in all probability, this improvement in the fortunes of theparish church was a reflection of the political, social and economic stabilitywhich characterised the 18th Century and which saw Britain becomethe most powerful economic force in the world. The history of Offley's most eminent residence, Offley Place, alsoreflected the growing feeling of national well-being and prosperity - thoughlocal, less fortunate residents would most probably have demanded, “Prosperity?What blessed prosperity?"  ThePenrice family had, by 1726, firmly taken over control of Offley Place from theSpencer family and by the middle of the century, Anna Maria and her husbandThomas Salusbury had inherited the estate worth, in 1752, £150,000.John and hiswife and after 1724, Mary and her second husband John Croft, along with thewhole of the Offley community would have continued to accept a very real senseof isolation from the rest of the world. Not only was the means of transportation limited to horse-back andhorse-drawn vehicles, but the appalling state of the roads contributed in largepart to the impracticability of travelling. At the beginning of the 18th Century, John Spencer, one timeowner-occupier of Offley Place complained - in 1708 - that the state of the“wayes” made travel virtually impossible. Not only were the roads and tracks difficult, but also dangerous as themurder of Richard Williams, the Vicar of Offley, in 1698 testified.Nevertheless, within a relatively small geographical, say of 20 miles or so,there must have been some limited and at times important communication betweencommunities. The records indicate that it was possible for young man and womenfrom the countryside to marry from outside their immediate neighbourhoods.

 

Turning to anothersignificant aspect of their lives, the residents of Offley were not only expectedto obey the temporal laws of the land, but also the spiritual edicts of theChurch which would have meant John Bates or John Croft being fined heavily ifthey had worked on a fast day, or not attended church with a degree ofregularity.  In all probability, JohnBates, the son of a former village constable would have had, in his relativelyshort life, a certain reputation to maintain as a law-abiding citizen.

 

So John Bates (II) wouldhave experienced very few changes in his life-time that would have differentiatedhis life from that of his father.  Hiswidow though would have witnessed in 1724 a significant event that took placewhen, thanks to the combined efforts of Rev. Thomas Dane and Alice Pigott (neeSpencer), the vicar was paid an annual sum of £20 to begin to provide arudimentary, basic education for the village children.  Almost certainly neither John nor his wifeMary would have been able to read or write and it would be many generationshence before members of the lower orders were given the opportunity to acquirea significant education and the chance to make substantial socialprogress.  Perhaps the magnitude of thisearly, tentative education initiative of 1724 passed most adult villagers byaltogether. Most probably Mary and John Croft would have been altogether moreconcerned with more mundane matters, though it may well have provided Mary’schildren from both her marriages an opportunity to acquire some basiceducation.

 

John Bates was only 27when he died. His adult life would have been dominated by the demands ofassiduous toil, the need to maintain a fire in the hearth and a roof over hisyoung family's head as well as food on the table, and it would have beenpunctuated by the occasional release from work of a holy-day or feast day andthe frequent if irregular family celebrations of baptisms, marriages andfunerals.

 

John Bates died in 1719and his widow Mary passed away in 1755. John had died confident in theknowledge he had secured the continuity of the Bates family into the nextgeneration.

 

 

2. JOHN2 BATES (II) (son of JOHN1 [1]) wasborn 1692, and died Aug 1719, buried 25 Aug 1719 in Offley, Herts,England.  He married MARY FOARD30 Dec 1711 in Offley, Herts, England, daughter of THOMAS FOARD and MARTHA. She was born 1693 in Kings Langley, Herts, England, and died 1755 inOffley, Herts, England.

 

John Bateswas born to his parents, John and Lettice Bates (nee Brock) in 1692. There isno evidence in the Offley Parish register of the birth but all the incidentalevidence points to John jnr. being a resident of Offley.  He grew up to be a farm labourer, and on 30December 1711, he married Mary Foard, born in 1693, in Kings Langley. MaryFoard hailed from Kings Langley where her parents, Thomas and Martha lived.Both her parents were aged 20 when she had been born. There is evidence thatJohn had a sister called Mary who married John Hanley at Offley in1710. Johnand Mary Bates had three children; Mary, born in 1713 and baptised on 12 Julyat Kings Langley, John, born in 1716 and Elizabeth, born in 1720. John andElizabeth were both baptised at Offley. Mary was baptised at Kings Langley. Asher mother was from King’s Langley it is likely that John and Mary’s first-borndaughter was born there, the couple perhaps starting their married life livingwith her parents.

 

Nevertheless, John and Mary Batesprobably lived most of their short married life in Offley. In 1716 a son, John,was born and he was baptised at Offley. He was to become the focal point of the2nd generation of the Bates family of Great Offley.  John and Mary’s third child, Elizabeth, bornin 1720, married William Man in 1750 in Offley. By the time Elizabeth had beensafely delivered, tragedy had struck the family in that John had died. He wasburied on 25 August 1719 at Offley.

 

John Bates died in 1719 confident inthe knowledge he had secured the continuity of the Bates family into the nextgeneration.

 

Mary Foardhailed from Kings Langley where her parents, Thomas and Martha lived. Both herparents were aged 20 when she had been born.

 

Mary remained a widow for only arelatively short time. On 25 December 1724 she married a local Offley man, JohnCroft who, born in 1704, was just 20 years of age. The couple - she was someeleven years senior of her new husband - went on to have seven children oftheir own. Elizabeth born in 1724, John born in 1726, William born in 1735,Sarah born in 1736, Edward born in 1738 and James born in 1740 were allbaptised at Offley. 

 

Mary passed away in 1755. Mary wasdoubly blessed in that she had not only contributed to the continuation of theBates line but also, even more emphatically, to the Croft line.

 

Children of JOHN BATES and MARY FOARD are:

                i.   MARY3 BATES,b. 1713, Kings Langley, Herts, England; baptised: 12 Jul 1713, Kings Langley,Herts, England

3.        ii.   JOHN BATES (III), b. 1716 and d. 1794 inOffley, Herts, England.

               iii.   ELIZABETH BATES,b. 1720 and baptised 13 Nov 1720 in Offley, m. WILLIAM MAN, 13 Jan 1749/50 in Offley, Herts,England. 

WilliamMan was most probably a local man and he was a witness at a wedding on 24December 1755 at Offley between Robert Hudson and Elizabeth Crafts.  So Elizabeth was very likely to have livedin Offley, in close proximity to her brother and his family.

 

Children of MARY FOARD and JOHN CROFT are:

                i.   ELIZABETH3 CROFT,b. 1724, Offley, Herts, England.

               ii.   JOHN CROFT, b. 1726, Offley, Herts, England.

               iii.   WILLIAM CROFT,b. 1735, Offley, Herts, England.

               iv.   SARAH CROFT,b. 1736, Offley, Herts, England.

                v.   EDWARD CROFT,b. 1738, Offley, Herts, England.

               vi.   JAMES CROFT,b. 1740, Offley, Herts, England.

 

 

 

Generation No. 3 

 

 

Thefamily historian will have discovered, very early into his researches, that inpast centuries the family was mostly very limited in its choice of Christiannames.  The options were usuallyrestricted to either a biblical name, or a so-called royal name, and invariablythe first born son took his father's first name.  Clearly these practices and restrictions no longer exist.  One way for the family historian to overcomethe difficulty in distinguishing, say, one John Bates from all the other knowngenerations of John Bates is to use the appendage, presently popular in theUnited States and borrowed from royal usage, so that John, the son of JohnBates becomes John Bates II.  Thus itwill be that the third generation of John Bates will be identified as JohnBates III, the son of John Bates II and Mary (nee Foard).

 

JohnBates (III) would have witnessed the alterations to Offley Church in 1774 and1776, the most significant aspects of which were changes to the chancel.  Many, including a later vicar, Percy Gatty,regarded the changes as out of character and completely incongruous in relationto the rest of the church.  One wouldhave expected parishioners at the time to have joined in a lively debate as tothe worth of the changes.  Thealterations were brought about by Dame Sarah Salusbury who also so invigoratedthe family fortunes that by 1800 she had consolidated 3 of the 4 most importantestates of the village; Offley Place consisting of 2000 acres of land, theother two estates being Wellbury and Westbury. Whether this consolidation of land and hence the greatly enhancedfinancial, political, social and ecclesiastical power of the Salusbury familywithin the village and parish was a development the parishioners approved of ishard to say.  Needless to say, it, andthe works of Dame Sarah, would have provided a lively source of gossip anddebate at the blacksmith's forge of John Bates (III).

 

Enclosureswere beginning to have their social and economic effects on the poorer folk ofthe village by the time John Bates (III) was nearing the end of his life.  Denied grazing rights, many who could notlay a satisfactory legal claim to their land, or to the common pasture, wouldhave been forced to sell, on disadvantageous terms, and become landlesslabourers.  The first Act of Enclosurethat affected Offley was in 1767. Fortunately the developing local craft of strawplaiting - to providematerial for the hatmakers of Luton - which was to become a very importantlocal cottage industry in the Nineteenth Century, must have alleviated, to someextent, the worst of the poverty in and around Offley that occurred due toenclosures and periodic agricultural depression.  Elizabeth Bates would probably have been fortunate enough to havestood aloof from this work as her husband would have been reasonably wellinsulated against the periodic hardship.

 

 

3.  JOHN3 BATES III (son of JOHN2  [2]) was born 1716, baptised26 Nov 1752,in Offley, Herts, England, died 1794 and buried 03 May 1794 inOffley, Herts, England.  He married ELIZABETH PESTELL 07 Jun 1747 in Hexton, Herts, England, daughter of THOMAS PESTELL and MARY GOUDING. She was born 1719 in Hexton, Herts, England, and died 1788 in Offley,Herts, England.

 

John Bates (III)was born in 1716, baptised in Offley Parish Church and died, aged 78, in1794.  He grew up to be a blacksmith bytrade and in 1747, aged 31, he married Elizabeth Pestell of Hexton (a nearbyparish).  Elizabeth was three yearsyounger than her husband, having been born in 1719.  She died in 1788.  Theywere married, almost certainly at Hexton. Elizabeth's parents, Thomas and Mary Pestell (nee Gouding) hadthemselves been married on 29 December 1717 at King's Walden and were living inthe parish of Hexton at the time of their daughter's wedding.  John and Elizabeth married by licence, asopposed to being married by publishing banns and after the wedding, the couplesettled down to married life in Offley. Records reveal that John Bates was eligible for Militia Service from1761-1769 and that in 1772 he was established enough to employ a horsekeeper, a man called William.  John Bates died in 1794, being buried, likehis wife, at Offley Parish Church on 3 May 1794.

 

John Bates (III) and his wifeElizabeth had three children who were to form the basis of the next generationof the Bates family.  They were JohnBates (IV), baptised on 12 June 1748, Thomas Bates, baptised on 23 December1750 and James Bates, baptised on 26 November 1752.  All three sons were baptised at Offley Parish Church.

 

John Bates (III) would have assumedan important and significant role in village life as a blacksmith.  Not only would he have shod horses andgenerally maintained the working and recreational fitness of the equinepopulation, but he also would have been called upon to repair and make allmanner of farming and domestic equipment and tools, which would have made hisblacksmith's shop a focal point of community life.  Not to mention a warm and inviting place to hang around in on acold winter's day!  So John Bates wouldhave kept his finger on the pulse of village life and no doubt had plenty ofgossip to relate to his wife Elizabeth at the end of most working days.  Undoubtedly John Bates III would have seenhimself as a cut above the ordinary agricultural labourer as he had a valuabletrade and enjoyed a standard of living commensurate with the importance of hisrole in village society.  But also, likethe farm labourer, he would have worked long, hard hours and enjoyed relativelyfew holidays.  The farming day startedearly, as early as 5.00am, so John would have been lighting the fire in hisforge at about the same time and working until well past night fall in thewinter, and as long as the fields were being worked in the summer.  Like the iron-workers of the IndustrialRevolution, he would have acquired a lively thirst by the end of the day, andthe Green Man, or The Cock, The Bull, The Carpenter's Arms, The Red Lion orSimpson's Cottages would all have regarded John Bates III as one of theirbetter customers!

 

Just before his death - John wasburied on 3 May 1794 - he wrote his Last Will and Testament.  It is dated 7 March 1794.  John signed it and it was witnessed andsigned by William Olney and his son James Olney.  In it he left all his property in Offley to his eldest son John(John Bates IV) and his other property in Pogsdon in the parish of Thillingtonand elsewhere to Thomas, his middle son. Thomas was, however, his youngest surviving son as James, his youngestson, was already dead.  To John he alsogave £100, to his son John (John Bates V) he gave £20; to Thomas' daughterHannah he gave £20; to John, son of Thomas, £10 and to the other children ofhis son, Thomas, he gave £5.  All thelegacies were to be received upon the age of majority (21) or in the case ofthe granddaughters when they married if that was earlier.  To his sons John and Thomas he bequeathedall his other worldly effects - money, goods, furniture and personal estate.

 

So John Bates III did not leave afortune to his heirs and descendants when he died, rather it might be said thathe was comfortably off at his death, a state of affairs which reflected the"middling" position amongst the lower middle classes which he undoubtedlywould have laid claim to have achieved during his life-time.

 

John Bates wife, Elizabeth Pestell came from a wellrespected Bedfordshire family. Her ancestral line can today be traced back 5generations to that of her 3X great grandfather, Richard Pestell who was bornin 1570.  She received £200 under herfather’s will.

     

Children of JOHN BATES and ELIZABETH PESTELL are:

4.         i.   JOHN4 BATES IV, b. 1748 and d. 1814 in Offley,Herts, England;

5.        ii.   THOMAS BATES, b. 1750 and d. 30 Dec 1823 inOffley, Herts, England.

          iii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1752 and baptised 26 Nov 1752; d.1775 and buried 17 Aug 1775 in Offley, Herts, England.

James was a ploughman by trade, according to theMilitia Muster Rolls for Offley.

 

 

 

Generation No. 4 

 

 

For thetwo centuries or so that the Bates family were prominent members of the Offleycommunity, no one member of the family rose to such eminence as Thomas 'TheChurchwarden' Bates.

 

Duringthe life-time of Thomas Bates (1750-1823) the village of Offley saw theestablishment of both a formal day and Sunday School. This originated from thedeath, in 1804, of the Lady of the Manor, Dame Sarah Salusbury, who left, incodicils to her will dated 1795 and 1797 (according to Baines, p.92), twoamounts of £500 at the disposal of the vicar, Rev. Lynch Salusbury.  He decided to establish the aforementionedschools that continued until his death in 1837.

 

Thevillage during this time was affected by various social and economic trendswhich many parts of Britain experienced, for example, the enclosure movement.

 

The firstact of enclosure for Offley was as early as 1767.  "An Act for inclosing the common fields, the commonablelands and grounds, in the Parish of Lilley and Offley, in the County ofHertford, except a certain sheepdown called Lilley Hoo, in the said parish ofLilley, and certain lands, part of the common fields, lying south east of WestLane End, the Mill House and Cole's Cross, North End of the town ofOffley." (Baines p.113)  ThomasBates appears to have been one such man who was able to take advantage of landchanges caused by enclosures whereas his brother James, although unable,because of his early death, to show us what he was really made of, was anagricultural labourer of the kind who lost out as a result of the EnclosureMovement.

 

FurtherActs of enclosure were enacted for Offley in 1801 and 1807 and as a consequenceof agricultural depression caused by the Napoleonic wars - as well as insubsequent years - a workhouse was established at this time in Offley by Rev.Lynch Burroughs.  He was alsoresponsible for having new cottages erected for the poorer folk of theparish.  Strawplaiting in Offleyexperienced its heyday in the early 1800's, supplying plaits for the hat makingindustry of Luton.  It was unlikely thatThomas' wife Sarah, had any time to engage in strawplaiting as she brought upher 13 children although other female members of the Bates family would surelyhave been engaged in outworking to supplement the family's income.

 

Theeconomic and social fabric of the village appears not to have been tooseriously affected by periodic bouts of depression and economic hardships.  Indeed in 1810 another 1/2 acre of land wasconsecrated and added on to the churchyard, making an acre in all whichindicates that the village of Offley was expanding in terms of population.  Baines (p.18) also records anothersignificant development as far as the parish church was concerned, an event inwhich Thomas Bates would have been intimately involved - perhaps even a primemover.  "In 1814 it was decidedthat the old stone tower and steeple were in a dangerous condition and had tobe pulled down, the churchwardens receiving £10 from the surveyor of roads forthe 200 loads of stone from the demolition. The churchwardens borrowed £1,000 at 5% per annum interest from ThomasKidman, a farmer probably of Offley Grange (The Bates' and Kidmans were laterto be united in a marriage) and levied a rate of 1/- in the £ on the parish topay for it.  It did not take long tobuild as it is recorded that early in 1815 the bells were rung for the firsttime in the new tower."  At thesame time a new lead roof was installed, and as we have already seen, Thomas'"stamp" was firmly imprinted on a section of this.  It was only in 1957 that this lead roof wasreplaced, and Thomas' involvement revealed. In general, however, changes must have been painfully slow to take placeand the Offley familiar to Thomas Bates and other members of the 8th generationof the Bates family would have been almost identical in character (apartperhaps from the new road) to that which previous generations would have grownup in.

 

 

4. JOHN4 BATES IV (son of JOHN3 [3]) wasborn 1748, baptised 12 Jun 1748 and died 1814 in Offley, Herts, England.  He married (1) MARY WELCH 16 Dec 1773 in Offley, daughter of GEORGE WELCH and SARAH. She was born c. 1755 and baptised 05 Mar 1755 in Hitchin, Herts,England. She died in 1800.  Mary was thesister of Sarah Welch (who married John's brother Thomas). He married (2) JANE TURNER 1800 in Offley.  She was born1748, and died 05 Jun 1834 in Offley.

 

John Bates marriedMary on 16th December 1773 so that year must have been a good year ofcelebration for the Bates and Welch families. John and Mary were married for 26 years before Mary died in 1800, aged45.  John, a blacksmith by trade and alocal Offley resident, remarried some six months after the death of his firstwife. 

 

John, when he died, left property inseveral parishes to both his second wife, Jane, and his only son by his firstmarriage which were worth approximately £600. Jane was to receive an annual annuity for the rest of her life of £30 ayear, and John received the rest of his father's estate which included"ready money, farming stock and crop, instruments of husbandry, cattle,good, chattels and personal estate and effects.  Jane received all the household effects, and her husband's stockin trade including the blacksmith's shop.

 

Jane Forster, a widow, nee Turner, was born in1748 (the same year as John) and died in 1834 aged 86.  She therefore lived a further 20 years afterthe death of John Bates who died in 1814 aged 65.  Jane's headstone, in Offley churchyard, is a rather elaborate oneand the inscription reads: "Sacred to the memory of Jane, wife of SamuelForster, afterwards of John Bates, late of this Parish.  She departed this life 5th June 1834 in the86th Year of her Age".

     

Child of JOHN BATES and MARY WELCH is:

6.         i.   JOHN5 BATES V, b. 1775, Offley, Herts, England;d. 19 May 1843, Flamstead, Herts, England.

 

 

5. THOMAS4 BATES (son of JOHN3 [3]) wasborn 1750, baptised 23 Dec 1750, died 30 Dec 1823 and was buried 05 Jan 1824 inOffley, Herts, England. His Will was made 28 Dec 1823.   Hemarried SARAH WELCH15 Apr 1773 in Offley, Herts, England, daughter of GEORGE WELCH and SARAH. She was born 1750 in Offley, baptised 15 Feb 1747/48, St. Mary’s,Hitchin, Herts and died 24 Dec 1819 in Offley, Herts, England. Her sister,Mary, married Thomas' elder brother, John.

 

Thomas 'TheChurchwarden' Bates was born in 1750and was the second of three sons born to John Bates III and his wifeElizabeth.  His elder brother, John(John Bates IV) was born in 1748 and the youngest of the three offspring, Jameswas born in 1752.  All three boys werebaptised at Offley and all were destined to live, and be buried, in the samevillage.  James died in 1775 aged 22,John in 1814 aged 65 and Thomas passed on in 1823, aged 73.

 

Thomas, as we have seen, wasreasonably well provided for when his father died in 1794.  However, by this time Thomas was well intomiddle-age himself and had already made his own way in life.

 

In 1773 he had taken Sarah Welsh ashis bride, the couple being married on 15 April 1773 by licence. The ceremonytook place at Offley Parish Church and the evidence of the marriage entrywherein they both signed their names quite elegantly and legibly indicates theycould both write and had therefore benefited from some education. In allprobability they had both been taught the rudiments of reading and writing aswell as "the principles of religion as by law established" by thevicar who had, in 1724 started to be paid an annual stipend of £20 to teach thepoor children of the parish.  The twowitnesses at their wedding were Samuel Forster and John Bates. The latter wasalmost certainly Thomas' elder brother, the former the husband of Jane Forster.After the death of Samuel Forster, his widow married John, becoming his secondwife.

 

There might well have been someuneasy haste over the wedding arrangements as Sarah Welsh was already carryingtheir first child - a son, George, named after her father - when the weddingtook place.  As both Thomas and Sarahcame from well-established Offley families few eyebrows would have been raised.  In any case anticipating the marriage inthis way was far less scandalous in the Eighteenth Century than in Victoriantimes when prudishness and propriety, to say nothing of hypocrisy came toachieve something of an art-form.  Evenif the marriage had something of a 'shot-gun' character at the beginning, itwas to prove a happy, successful and enduring one.  Sarah bore Thomas no fewer than 13 children.

 

Thomas became a successful andprosperous tenant farmer.  In his Willhe described himself as a yeoman.  In1807 he was a tenant farmer at Westbury Farm, close to the centre of thevillage and one of the largest of the "2nd division" farms inOffley.  In 1085 it comprised of landwhich extended to almost 1000 acres, but by the time Thomas Bates had becomeits tenant, it was undoubtedly somewhat smaller and had become part of OffleyPlace estate.  In 1815 it is documentedthat Thomas was paying rates, and presumably Thomas lived on at Westbury Farmuntil his death in 1823, as his son, Thomas Welch Bates appears to havecontinued the tenancy. 

 

In 1827 there occurred a burglary atthe house of Thomas Bates, a farmer of Offley living at Westbury Farm thatresulted in the apprehension of Joseph Sinfield and William Worsley both ofwhom were

sentenced to death on 25 July 1827at Hertford  Assizes.

 

In 1807 Thomas Bates was involved ina major change in the system of road transportation in Offley. TheLuton-Hitchin 'highway' was re-located in that year, a move that took the newroad past Thomas Bates' farmhouse at Westbury Farm.  The relocation was the brainchild of Lynch Burroughs, then themaster of Offley Place who found the traffic, hitherto hard by Offley Place,disturbing both to him, his household and his pheasants.  Lynch Burroughs was able to take advantageof an Act of Enclosure that related to Offley (passed in 1806) to effect thenew siting of the Hitchin-Luton road. One would expect Thomas Bates to have not been best pleased by thisdevelopment but he would have had little hope of upsetting the plans of LynchBurroughs.  As D. Baines told me in a privateletter, "...the steeper gradients of the new alignment was just tough luckon the traveller.  I rather doubtwhether Churchwarden Bates was very amused at the realignment as the road wasnow to pass immediately next to his farmhouse, though he probably had little tosay in the matter, being a tenant". The new road is recorded in the Hertford Quarter Session Books of 11thand 13th January 1808, Vol.18.  Theentry reads as follows:

 

"The diversion of a road atOffley was confirmed.  The award wasmade by certain justices at a special session held at Offley in consequence ofan order made by John Maughan and Thomas Thorpe, "the Commissionersappointed by and for the execution of an Act of Parliament passed in theforty-seventh year of His present Majesty's Reign intituled An Act forinclosing lands in the Parish of Offley..... and for exonerating the land inthe said parish from Tithes".  Theroad in question ran from Offley to Luton, Co. Bedford, through Coles Cross andPutteridge Green, it ran along the north side of the park pales and the gardenwall of the park belonging to the Rev. Lynch Burroughs, and crossed the roadfrom Offley to Little Offley and Wellbury at the guide post on the south-eastcorner of Dell Pasture.  When the roadwas diverted it would cross the road between the house of Richard Olney and thefarmhouse occupied by Thomas Bates.”

 

So we can imagine Thomas having afull and busy life, responsible for working a large farm and bringing up andproviding for a very large family. Additionally he was involved for much of his adult life withadministrative duties within the parish as well as with his own devotions.  He was obviously a success at both, and inhis will, dated 28th December 1823 he was able to leave varying sums of moneytotalling over £4,600 to 10 of his children and an unspecified amount to theother 2 children who had been settled upon earlier.  Clearly, with stock and other farm equipment as well as householdeffects and other property, Thomas was a man who had become very prosperousduring his life-time and able to set up his family very handsomely on hisdeath.

 

Material possessions or worldlysuccess do not appear to have altogether occupied the attention of ThomasBates.  He was a long-time churchwardenat Offley and was considered to be one of the most influential men of thedistrict of his day.  Evidence exists inOffley Church of Thomas Bates' importance. Originally hanging over the North door, then over the West door, (atpresent it hangs in the bell tower while repairs and renovations take place) isa magnificent painting of the Coats of Arms of George III.  Inscribed on the painting are the words,"Thomas Bates, Churchwarden, 1800". On the back of the painting, faintly inscribed, are the words "JohnElster - Hitchin, Painters".  Alsoinscribed are the words "Isaac Newton - 1800".  Thomas Bates celebrated his 50th Birthday in1800 and it seems likely that the painting was commissioned to honour thisevent.

 

His importance is further reflectedby the fact that in 1803 Thomas paid for the sixth and final church bell thatwas erected in the church tower at Offley in that year.  It is a 6 hundredweight bell with a diameterof 44.5 inches and inscribed on the inside of the bell are the words,"Thomas Bates, warden".  In1814 the present tower was built and Thomas Bates, as Churchwarden, must havebeen closely involved in its construction. Indeed, on the tower roof was placed a rectangular piece of lead withthe words inscribed, "Thomas Bates, Churchwarden, 13 October 1814.  When the lead roof of 1814 was replaced by acopper roof in 1957, this piece of lead was removed and placed on the churchfloor at the back of the church.  Alsoinscribed are the words: "R. and I. Newton, Plumbers".  This referred to a local firm of tradesmen.

 

The position of the churchwarden atthis time was a powerful and important one in local rural life.  The Churchwarden's accounts for the ParishCouncil tell us something of the work that the two Churchwardens did in theearly Nineteenth Century.  For example,in 1810, on 23 May, Thomas Bates was paid 4 shillings for removing a man bitwith a dog to Stopsley. In 1810 he received several payments for killingpolecats and sparrows - they were a particular nuisance to farmers at harvesttime - and in 1821 he was paid 3 shillings for killing 6 dozen sparrows.  In 1834 the then Churchwarden, Thomas havingdied 11 years earlier, paid 2/6d to Mary Bates for washing the interior of thechurch.  The churchwardens also hadresponsibility for levying parish rates to pay, for example, for the upkeep ofparish roads and the welfare of the poor of the parish.

 

Thomas Bates was buried in Offleychurchyard on 5 January 1824.  He haddied seven days earlier on 30 December 1823 and on his gravestone there is asimple inscription which reads: "Thomas Bates.  Died 30th December 1823 aged 73 years".  He joined his wife, Sarah, who died on 24thDecember 1819 aged 69 years.  She too,had a simple inscription on her headstone which reads: "Sarah Bates, wifeof Thomas Bates, died 24th December 1819, aged 69".

 

Thomas' Will was dated 28 December1823.  His son John and a friend, EdwardClisby of Hitchin, were appointed Joint Executors.  Providing John was able to, and his landlord, Rev. LynchBurroughs was in agreement, Thomas wished that John should replace him astenant of Westbury Farm.  Clearly Thomasbelieved that there was some uncertainty as to whether John either wanted to,or was able to succeed him at Westbury Farm (on the grounds, presumably, thathe was unable to purchase the stock), for he went on to declare that shouldJohn not take the farm the stock was to be disposed of in the usual course.

 

However, on the assumption that Johnwould take over the running of the farm, Thomas sought to protect the interestsof four of his youngest children, namely Abel, Mary Elizabeth, Rebecca andLydia.  He declared that theaforementioned should continue to be employed on the farm and supported there,each receiving 3 guineas quarterly, and £500 upon the sale of Thomas' stock.

 

Reference was then made to theprovision Thomas had already made for his sons George, James, Thomas and theaforementioned John, as well as Sarah and "several of my otherchildren", details of which are tantalisingly omitted.  He then went on to state that Joseph was toreceive £200, Benjamin £100, Hannah (married to Samuel Lane) £200 ("to bepaid retrospectively as soon as money can be got in for that purpose"),George an additional £400, James an additional £1,400 and John an additional £300.

 

Anything left over after Thomas'debts and funeral expenses were sorted out was to be equally divided betweenhis 12 children.

 

Children of THOMAS BATES and SARAH WELCH are:

7.         i.   GEORGE5 BATES, b. Nov 1773, Offley, Herts,England; d. Aft. Mar 1838.

8.        ii.   THOMAS WELCH BATES, b. 1775, Offley, Herts, England;d. 01 Dec 1846, Hitchin, Herts, England.

9.       iii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1776, Offley, Herts, England.

          iv.   BENJAMIN BATES, b. 1777 and baptised 12 Nov 1777;d. Dec 1780 and buried 27 Dec 1780 in Offley, Herts, England.

Benjamindied in infancy; having been baptised at Offley on 12 November 1777 he wastaken back to the churchyard there to be buried just three short yearslater.  A sad Christmas indeed forThomas and Sarah, and their three young, surviving children.

10.      v.   HANNAH BATES, b. 1779 and d. 05 Nov 1848 inOffley, Herts, England.

11.      vi.   SARAH BATES, b. 1780, Offley, Herts, England.

         vii.   MARY ELIZABETH BATES, b. 1781, baptised 28 Oct 1781 andd. 1851 in Offley, Herts, England.

Mary Bates grew up and remained aspinster.  In 1823 she was working andliving at Westbury Farm at the time of her father's death.  He provided her, in his will, with an incomeof 12 guineas a year and a bequest of £500. She later moved out of Westbury Farm and took over the tenancy of the"Old Green Man Public House", which she ran as landlady until herdeath.  In 1839 she also occupied afield adjacent to the pub that was part of Offley Park.

         viii.   REBECCA BATES, b. 1783, baptised 16 Feb 1783, d.1861 and buried in Offley, Herts, England.

In 1823, like her sister Mary Elizabeth, Rebecca Bates was living and working atWestbury Farm.  She, too, received 12guineas a year allowance and the sum of £500 under the terms of her father'swill.  She eventually set up home withher sister Lydia in Offley and was recorded in the Offley census of 1851 as thehead of the household - 1851 Census, seamstress

12.     ix.   JOHN BATES, b. 1785 and d. 14 Mar 1869 inOffley, Herts, England.

          x.   LYDIA BATES, b. 1786, baptised Dec 1786 and  d. May 1867 in Offley, Herts, England.

Aspinster, like her aforementioned sisters, LydiaBates was provided with an annual income of 12 guineas and left £500 by herfather.  In 1851 she is recorded asliving with Rebecca and was a seamstress by trade.

13.     xi.   JOSEPH BATES, b. 1787 and d. 24 Jun 1837 inOffley, Herts, England.

14.    xii.   BENJAMIN BATES, b. 1789, Offley, Herts, England.

15.    xiii.   ABEL BATES, b. 1790, Offley, Herts, England.

 

 

 

Generation No. 5 

 

 

The fifthgeneration of the Bates family continued to live predominantly in and aroundOffley.  Between the birth of thefirst-born of the fifth generation (namely, George Bates, born 1773) and thedeath of the last known member of the generation (John Bates, died 1869),almost 100 years elapsed.  Althoughstartling changes and momentous events filled the pages of national andinternational history of these 100 years, life for the fifth generation ofOffley Bates's would not have been radically or perhaps even slightly differentfrom that of previous generations.  We shallseek to identify some of those changes that affected the village, and rurallife, but first, we shall examine who comprised this generation of the Batesfamily.

 

The fifth generation of the Batesfamily further consisted of John Bates, the first cousin of George Bates,eldest son of Thomas 'the churchwarden' Bates. John Bates was the son of John Bates IV and in order to helpidentification he will be known as John Bates V.  The wedding of John Bates V and Elizabeth Olney took place acouple of months before John's Grandfather (John Bates III) died.  All three families, the Lanes, the Olneysand the Bates' were prominent members of the local community.  In the space of the 22 years, John andElizabeth Bates produced 12 children. 

 

At this point it would seemappropriate to inform readers of what Flamstead, this "other" home ofthe Bates family in Hertfordshire was like. Flamstead was, and still is, a widely scattered community, the villageof Flamstead lying at the heart of the parish. The village is situated on high ground that slopes down to the valley ofthe River Ver which runs along Watling Street. Flamstead means a place of refuge, a reminder of the days when woodedacres along Watling Street were infested with robbers and "wildmen".  The Hertfordshirecountryside has long been best known for its farming and the growing of wheat,oats and barley.  These are the cropsthat the farmers of Flamstead have grown since medieval times, as well askeeping cattle, pigs and sheep.

 

The village's focal point is thechurch of St. Leonards that dates from the 14th Century.  The original building, though, was begun asearly as the 12th Century and the tower dates from 1120.  The building was dedicated in 1223.  A Saxon chapel once stood on the site thatindicates the existence of a community at Flamstead well before the NormanConquest.

 

The village was never a wealthy oneand as in Offley, women traditionally supplemented the family's income by strawplaiting and straw hat making.  Thiswork was important in the 19th Century and the early years of the presentcentury.  Old cottages surrounded thechurch and these included the well-known Saunders almshouses built in 1609 byThomas Saunders of Beechwood.

 

Since 1618 the village has hadstrong links with University College, Oxford, which owns an estate and otherproperty in the parish.  The collegehas, since 1971, built a village hall for use as a general amenity for thevillage.

 

In 1871 the population of Flamsteadwas 2,005.  By 1931 it had shrunk to 893but by 1971 it had risen again to 1,516.

 

In 1905 Flamstead parish covered anarea of 5,491 of which 3,561 were arable, 1,151 acres permanent grass and 406acres woodland.

 

Flamstead village itself forms threesides of a square around the church, the Saunders almshouses on the northernside.  The fourth side is open towardthe south.

 

Earlier it was stated that JohnBates V had moved, at some time between 1817 and 1839 away from Offley toFlamstead.  Evidently there was aninterim move because a document which relates to a sale (lease) of property byJohn Bates V and his son John VI to Mr William Olney dated 1829 states that inthat year John Bates (1775) (V) was a resident of the parish of Higham Gobionin the County of Bedford.  The documentconcerned was an agreement between John Bates (1775) and John Bates (1795) tosell 3 cottages and adjoining land and property to William Olney.  William Olney was a butcher and was a memberof the family that John Bates (1775) had married into in 1794.  William was probably John's (1775)father-in-law.  The property was soldfor £155.

 

Thefifth generation of the Bates family, whether living in Offley or Flamstead,would have begun to experience some of the innovations and changes thatoccurred as a result of the developing agricultural revolution, itself aforerunner to even greater changes in English society, namely the IndustrialRevolution.  New techniques of plantingseed, rotating crops, new fodder crops leading to better livestock management,the enclosure movement and the general increase in the intensity of farmingwould all have affected those fifth generation Bates' involved directly inagriculture.  The women-folk continuedto run their homes, bring up children and either become a wage-earner in theirown right or work to supplement their husband's income.  Their work consisted of farm-work,strawplaiting, dressmaking, general cleaning etc.

 

Thefifth generation also experienced other great social changes like theimprovements in transport that was taking place across the whole country.  This undoubtedly led to a marked decrease inthe sense of isolation felt by rural communities.  Period agricultural depressions, however, caused by war,pestilence, poor harvests or political considerations like the Corn Laws (repealedin 1815) would have, from time to time, struck fear if not terror into thehearts of rural folk.  Life must havebeen something of an unending struggle, difficult in good times, downrightimpossible in hard times. Notwithstanding these "local difficulties" the well documentedevidence points to a relative prosperity enjoyed by the Bates' in terms offinance, longevity and successful procreation. All this would seem to suggest that the fifth generation of the Batesfamily was generally successful and had become a well-established middling sortof Home Counties farming family.

 

Thesocial distress of the times was undoubtedly reflected in the extent ofcriminal activity recorded by the authorities as it affected Offley.  Baines (p.121-122) records several examplesof transportation overseas ranging from 7 years to life sentences for offencesranging from stealing rabbits to rioting. Other crimes punished by transportation, usually to Australia, includedstealing farm tools and implements, personal belongings eg. boots orlivestock.  Interestingly, Bainesrecords the following incident: "....Fortunate was Ellen Bygrave in 1845to be acquitted of receiving stolen goods from her sister Mary Ann Bygrave.  Mary Ann was convicted of stealing athimble, a pair of gloves, a yard of linen and other articles of property ofMiss Eliza Bates and her sisters at Lilley Hoo Farm for which she was sentencedto a 12 month gaol sentence, but was acquitted of setting fire to the house ofJohn Bates of Lilley".  This referenceto Miss Eliza Bates is likely to describe the daughter of John Bates V who in1841 was living and farming at Flamstead. After his death his daughters, Eliza, Mary and Matilda, unable tocontinue living a Hill Farm, Flamstead, returned to the Offley area where theyset up home with their brother, John (John Bates VI) at neighbouringLilley.  It would appear that there wasa degree of animosity between the Bygrave girls and the Bates family!

 

Othercrimes punished by transportation included arson.

 

We haveseen earlier that Thomas and Sarah Bates were blessed with 13 children. Theseformed the nucleus of the fifth generation. 

 

 

6. JOHN5 BATES V  (son of JOHN4 [4]) wasborn 1775 and baptised 05 Mar 1775 in Offley, Herts, England, and died 19 May 1843in Flamstead, Herts, England.  He wasburied May 1843 in St Mary's Parish Churchyard, Luton. His Will was dated 09Apr 1843.  He married ELIZABETH OLNEY13 Feb 1794 in Offley, Herts, England, daughter of WILLIAM OLNEY. She was born 1775 and died 1839 in Offley, Herts, England.

 

At some point between the birth oftheir youngest child, Matilda (1817) and Elizabeth's death in 1839 the familymoved to nearby Flamstead, and farmed Hill Farm.  In 1841, 2 years after the death of his wife, John is recorded bythe census of that year as living at Hill Farm, Flamstead, with four of hischildren.  In addition to John and hisfour children, the farm also employed 3 servants and 2 agricultural labourers.  Clearly, this was quite a large farm.

 

The will is dated 9 April 1843.  His sons John, William and Edmund were toshare all their father's freehold and copyhold estate and were appointedExecutors.  All the rest of his estateand personal effects were to be sold and equally divided up between his 12children. 

 

Children of JOHN BATES and ELIZABETH OLNEY are:

16.       i.   JOHN6 BATES VI, b. 1795, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. c. 1863, Limbury-cum-Biscot, Luton, Beds, England.

           ii.   MARY BATES, b. 1799, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 09 Feb 1844. Burial: Feb 1844, St Mary's Parish Churchyard, Luton

17.     iii.   WILLIAM BATES, b. 1799, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 1865.

          iv.   ELIZABETH BATES, b. 1801, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. died young ?.

18.      v.   EDMUND BATES, b. 1804, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 12 Jul 1848.

19.      vi.   HANNAH BATES, b. 1806, Flamstead, Herts,England.

         vii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1808, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 1808.

20.    viii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1809, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 23 Dec 1853.

21.     ix.   SARAH BATES, b. 1811, Flamstead, Herts,England.

22.      x.   GEORGE BATES, b. 1813, Flamstead, Herts,England; d. 1855.

              xi.   ELIZABETH BATES,b. 1814, Flamstead, Herts, England; d. Bef. 1843; m. WILLIAM BLOTT of Barton, Herts, England

         xii.   MATILDA BATES, b. 1817, Flamstead, Herts,England.

The censusof 1851 reveals that Matilda Bates was living at a farm in nearbyLilley.  She had moved less far awaythan her brother Edmund from their place of birth. Matilda was unmarried andwas farming 140 acres and employing 5 labourers.

23.    xiii.   ANNBATES, b. 1821, Offley, Herts, England;d. 31 Jan 1889, Dunstable, Beds, England.

 

 

7. GEORGE5 BATES (son of THOMAS4 [5]) was born Nov 1773 and baptised 28Nov 1773 in Offley, Herts, England, and died Aft. Mar 1838.  He married JANE POPE (née HAYDON) 03 Jun 1800 in Flamstead, Herts,England.  She was born 1772 in Holywellcum Needingworth, Hunts, England.

 

George Bateswas the first child of Thomas and Sarah Bates and was baptised at Offley on 28November 1773, 7½ months after his parents were married.  George was destined to be part of a largefamily, and clearly grew up in a farming environment.

 

At some point as a young man hemoved to Flamstead, a village about 8 miles from Offley, from where, in 1800,he married.  The marriage licenceapplication for Hertfordshire - normally people married by banns rather than bylicence in those days - reveal that George applied for a marriage licence inthe first half of 1800 and that he lived in Flamstead. 

 

He married a widow, Jane Pope, ofLuton, at St Leonard's Church, Flamstead. The two witnesses were Samuel Haydon and Sarah Bates.  Sarah was George's sister and lived atOffley. A year later she and Samuel Haydon were themselves married.  Jane's sister, Mary, also married fromFlamstead and was therefore living near the Bates', or possibly even with them,acting as a help with the children.  OnApril 29th 1811 she married Benjamin Somers and George, her brother-in-law, wasa witness, as was Samuel Haydon.

 

In 1823, on the death of his father,George received from his father's estate, the sum of £400 that was additionalto a sum previously bestowed on him. He, like his father before him, was clearly a successful farmer andfamily man and he was still alive in 1838 when his second son and 4th child,Thomas, married for a second time.  Thedate of his death and whereabouts of his burial, as well as that of his wife,Jane, are unknown.

     

Children of GEORGE BATES and JANE HAYDON are:

           i.   GEORGE6 BATES, b. 1801 and baptised 07 Jun 1801in Flamstead, Herts, England.

           ii.   JANE BATES, b. 1802 and baptised 21 Nov 1802in Flamstead, Herts, England.

          iii.   SARAH BATES, b. 1804 and baptised 30 Mar 1804in Flamstead, Herts, England.

24.      iv.   THOMAS BATES, b. 1806, Flamstead, Herts,England.

           v.   SAMUEL BATES, b. 1808 and baptised 25 Dec 1808in Flamstead, Herts, England.

          vi.   HANNAH BATES, b. 1810 and baptised 25 Nov 1810in Flamstead, Herts, England.

         vii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1814 and baptised 31 Jul 1814in Flamstead, Herts, England.

         viii.   ANNBATES, b. 1817 and baptised 13 Apr 1817in Flamstead, Herts, England.

 

 

8. THOMAS WELCH5 BATES  (son of THOMAS4 [5]) was born 1775 and baptised 29 Jan 1775 in Offley, Herts,England, and died 01 Dec 1846 in Hitchin, Herts, England.  He married SARAH FOLBIGG DEACON 26 Oct 1797 in Offley, daughter of WILLIAM DEACON. She was born 1777, died May 1799 and was buried 18 May 1799 in Offley,Herts, England.

 

The witnesses at their marriage were Lydia FolbiggDeacon and James and Sarah Bates who were respectively the sister of the brideand brother and sister of the groom. 

 

Sadly, Sarah died giving birth to her daughter,Sarah, and she was buried at Offley the day before her daughter was baptised on18 May 1799. She was just 22. So Thomas was left, aged 24, a widower, with twoyoung children to bring up on his own.

 

On 5 May 1801 Thomas was a witness, along with hissister, Hannah, at the wedding on their mutual sister Sarah's wedding to SamuelHaydon at Offley.  There is no furtherevidence of what became of Thomas - whether he remarried or not - until recordsreveal that in 1827 he was living and farming at Westbury Farm, the tenant farmhis father had worked for many years. Thomas (1750). will had suggested that Thomas' (1775). younger brother,John (1785), should have taken over Westbury Farm, but in 1827 the HertfordAssize records reveal that "on 25 July 1827 at the Hertford Assizes JosephSinfield and William Worsley were sentenced to death for burglary of the houseof Thomas Bates, a farmer of Offley living at Westbury Farm".

 

No further information, apart from that indicated below,has come to light about Thomas, or his two children, William and Sarah.

 

Children of THOMAS BATES and SARAH DEACON are:

25.       i.   WILLIAM6 BATES, b. 1797, Offley, Herts, England;d. 1845.

               ii.   SARAH BATES,b. May 1799 and baptised 19 May 1799 in Offley, Herts, England; m. THOMAS DANIELof Evershall, Beds,England 19 May 1823, Offley, Herts, England

 

 

9. JAMES5 BATES (son of THOMAS4 [5]) was born 1776 and baptised 03 Mar1776 in Offley, Herts, England.  Hemarried MARY HAYDON 1800 in Luton, Beds, England. 

 

In 1823 James Bates was left by far the largest sum of all in his father,Thomas's will - the princely sum of £1,400. Mary Haydon was almostcertainly related to Jane Bates (nee Haydon), the wife of James's elder brotherGeorge. 

     

Child of JAMES BATES and MARY HAYDON is:

                i.   JAMES6 BATES,b. 1801 and baptised 03 Mar 1776 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

 

 

10. HANNAH5 BATES (dau. of THOMAS4 [5]) was born 1779 and baptised 24 Jan 1779; died 05 Nov 1848 andburied 05 Nov 1848 in Offley, Herts, England. She married SAMUEL LANE 25 Oct 1804 in Offley, Herts,England.  He was born 1769, died 08 Feb1826 and was buried in Offley, Herts, England.

 

Samuel Lanewas a carpenter and for many years did a great deal of work for thechurch.  In 1816 he paid four shillingsrates for his carpenter's shop that was rated at £4.

 

Samuel’s will provided that his wifeshould receive his house, carpenter's shop and two cottages adjoining and shewas charged to keep them in good repair and insured against fire damage.  After her death the properties were to go tohis son Samuel and £10 apiece to his three daughters, Martha, the wife of JamesDavies, Sarah Lane and Harriet Lane, the wife of Francis Foster who she marriedin 1849.  After his own death Martha wasto receive a legacy of £150 and his son Samuel £100 plus his stock in trade,tools, watch and wearing apparel.  TheWill states that Samuel had £1,000 invested at the time of his death and hisestate was worth £941 after allowing for non-recoverable debts. Hannah andSamuel had produced a second son, Richard who was born in 1816. As no mentionwas made of him in Samuel’s will it must be assumed he had died before reachingmaturity.

Children of HANNAH BATES and SAMUEL LANE are:

                i.   SAMUEL6 LANE,b. 1805 and baptised 15 Sep 1805 in Offley, Herts, England; d. Died young.

               ii.   SAMUEL LANE,b. 1806 and baptised 15 Feb 1806; d. 06 Mar 1886 in Offley, Herts, England. He wasa carpenter, flour dealer and baker.

               iii.   MARTHA LANE,b. c. 1808, Offley, Herts, England; m. JAMESDAVIS.

               iv.   RICHARD LANE,b. 1809, Offley, Herts, England; d. died young.

26.      v.   SARAH LANE, b. 1811, Offley, Herts, England.

               vi.   HARRIET LANE,b. c. 1814 and baptised 13 Feb 1814 Offley, Herts, England; m. FRANCIS FOSTER, 1849, Offley, Herts, England; b.1823.

              vii.   RICHARD LANE,b. 1816 and baptised in Offley, Herts, England; d. died young ?.

 

 

11.  SARAH5 BATES (dau. of THOMAS4 [5]) wasborn 1780 and baptised 09 Jul 1780 in Offley, Herts, England.  She married SAMUEL HAYDON 05 May 1801 in Offley.  He was born in Luton, Beds, England.

 

Samuel Haydon came from Luton and was known tothe Pope family, of whom Jane married George, Sarah's eldest brother.  Samuel had been a witness in 1800 ofGeorge's marriage with Jane Pope at Flamstead, and he was also a witness, alongwith his brother-in-law George at the wedding of Jane's sister Mary to BenjaminSomers at Flamstead on April 29th 1811.

Children of SARAH BATES and SAMUEL HAYDON are:

27.     i.   SAMUEL6 HAYDON, b. c. 1803.

               ii.   JANE HAYDON, b. c. 1805 and baptised 16 Jan1805 in Luton, Beds, England.

               iii.   ELIZA HAYDON,b. c. 1806.

               iv.   SARAH HAYDON,b. c. 1807, Luton, Beds, m. GEORGE WILKIE, 07 Feb 1842, St. Mary’s, Luton.

                v.   THOMAS HAYDON,b. c. 1809.

               vi.   MARY HAYDON,b. 1810 and baptised 26 Sep 1810 Luton, Beds, England.

              vii.   GEORGE HAYDON,b. c. 1812.

             viii.   EMMA HAYDON, b. 1814 and baptised 18 May 1814in Luton

              ix.   MATILDA HAYDON,b. 1815 and baptised 08 Sep 1815 in Luton, Beds, England.

               x.   JAMES HAYDON,b. 1816 and baptised 18 Dec 1816 in Luton, Beds, England.

              xi.   CHARLES HAYDON,b. 1818 and baptised 18 Apr 1818 in  Luton, Beds, England.

              xii.   JOHN HAYDON,b. 1819 and baptised 10 Nov 1819 in Luton, Beds, England.

28. xiii.   HANNAH HAYDON, b. 1820, Luton, Beds, England.

             xiv.   HENRY HAYDON,b. 1822 and baptised in Luton, Beds, England.

 

 

12.  JOHN5 BATES (son of THOMAS4 [5]) wasborn 1785 and baptised 03 Jul 1785; died 14 Mar 1869 and was buried in Offley,Herts, England.  He married HARRIET HEPWORTH 26 Nov 1821 in St Martins in the Fields, Middx, England.  She was born 1792 in St Martins, Middlesex,England, and died 23 Feb 1868 in Offley, Herts, England.

 

John Bates seemedset to inherit the tenancy of Westbury Farm on his father's death.  Certainly in Thomas' will, provision wasmade for this to happen......"if my son John Bates shall find himself ableafterwards to hold and to pay for the stock of the farm and my landlord TheReverend Lynch Burroughs shall consent to accept him as tenant....."(extract from Thomas Bates' will, 1823). John Bates was also appointed Joint Executor.  He must have been a favoured son, but we must guess that LynchBurroughs objected to him assuming the tenancy for in 1827 we learn that ThomasWelch Bates was the tenant according to the records of the Hertford Assizes.  John, nevertheless, was clearly anenterprising and respected villager. 

 

In 1814 he was recorded as being thegamekeeper in the Manor of Hurst Hall alias Hallbury and Great Offley aliasWestbury.  The Lord of the Manor was theRev. Lynch Burroughs.  In 1823 he wasleft £300 in his father's will, in addition to the other provisions made forhim.  In 1825 when his daughter,Harriet, was born he was recorded as a farmer and in 1827 church records showthat he was a churchwarden when the church minister was Thelwell Salusbury. In1841 he was recorded as victualler and in 1851, the census of that yearrecorded him as being an innkeeper/publican. He was 65 years of age by this time. It appears that John had taken over the running of the Old Green Man Innfrom his sister Mary.  It would alsoappear that John Bates had had an earlier involvement with the tenancy of theGreen Man Public House as the Poll Books for Hertfordshire for 1832 listed"John Bates - Offley 1832 - occupier of house and land residence 'GreenMan' Public House".  Harriet Hepworth was recorded in the1861 census as being deaf/blind and also recorded that they lived in the publichouse with an unmarried daughter, also called Harriet (a dressmaker) along with3 lodgers (a shepherd, a farm labourer and a ploughman) and a servant aged 15.

 

The inscription on their plainheadstone reads, "In memory of John Bates who died March 14th 1869 aged83.  Also Harriet Bates, wife of abovewho died February 23rd 1868 aged 76 years.

 

Children of JOHN BATES and HARRIET HEPWORTH are:

                i.   MARY ANN6 BATES, b. Feb 1823 and baptised 02 Mar1823 in Offley, Herts, England.

               ii.   HARRIET BATES,b. 1825, Offley, Herts, England; d. 1908, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, England.

Harriet became a dressmaker by trade andafter the death of her parents she moved to Hemel Hempstead where she died aged83.  She is buried at Offley, havingremained a spinster all her life.

               iii.   LYDIA BATES,b. 1824, Offley, Herts, England.

 

 

13.  JOSEPH5 (son of THOMAS4 [5]) was born 1787 and baptised 23 Dec1787; died 24 Jun 1837 and buried 24 Jun 1837 in Offley, Herts, England.  He married ANNA MARIA RAYMENT 30 Jul 1812 in Offley, Herts,England.  She was born 1792, died 1864 andwas buried 02 May 1864 in Offley, Herts, England.

     

Children of JOSEPH BATES and ANNA RAYMENT are:

29.     i.   JOSEPH6 BATES, b. 1813, Offley, Herts, England;d. 1882, Lilley, Herts, England.

               ii.   SARAH BATES,b. 1818, baptised 28 Jun 1818 and d. 1836 in Lilley, Herts, England.

               iii.   REBEKAH BATES,b. 1819, Lilley, Herts, England; baptised 31 Mar 1820 Offley, Herts, England

 

 

14.  BENJAMIN5 BATES (son of THOMAS4 [5]) wasborn 1789 and baptised 24 May 1789 in Offley, Herts, England; died 02 Nov 1863in Stevenage, Herts, England.  Hemarried ELIZA CONISBY 18 May 1818 in Lilley. Herts, England. She was born 1797 in Lilley, Herts, England.

 

In 1851 the census recoded Benjamin Bates as a Beer House Keeperand Carrier.

 

Children of BENJAMIN BATES and ELIZA CONISBY are:

         i.   DRUSILLA6 BATES, b. 1818, Lilley, Herts, England.

        ii.   THOMAS BATES, b. 1822, Watton at Stone, Herts,England.

        iii.   JAMES BATES, b. 1823, Watton at Stone, Herts,England.

        iv.   HARRIET BATES, b. 1826, Watton at Stone, Herts,England.

 

 

15.  ABEL5 BATES (son of THOMAS4 [5]) wasborn 1790 and baptised 25 Jul 1790 in Offley, Herts, England.  He married MARY JEFFERYS 02 Dec 1824 in Stepney, London,England. 

 

Abel Batesgrew up to work on his father's farm, and in 1823, according to his father'swill he was left £500, plus 12 guineas a year, and Thomas decreed that Abelshould be allowed to continue to work on the farm, should John take over thetenancy.  Nothing is heard of Abel afterthis date.  Is it possible that he andhis brother, Benjamin, moved away, possibly emigrated, as there is no furtherrecord of either of them?

 

Children of ABEL BATES and MARY JEFFERYS are:

                i.   CATHERINE6 BATES,b. 1825 and baptised 05 Jun 1825 in Ickleford, Herts, England.

               ii.   LYDIA BATES,b. 1827 and baptised 25 Mar 1827 in Ippollitts, Herts, England ?.

               iii.   EDWIN BATES,b. 1833 and baptised in Biggleswade, Beds, England.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 6 

 

 

Already we have seen that theBates family had begun to fragment, one element staying in and around Offleyand another settling in Flamstead.

 

There does seem to have been agreat deal of 'to-and froing' within the family between these two parts of thecounty of Hertfordshire.  Withoutquestion, the most significant member of this generation, both in terms of whatis known about him, and on the grounds that he is the author's directdescendant, was Thomas Bates, second son of George and Jane Bates ofFlamstead.  During his lifetime, ThomasBates was to embark on the most significant move away from Offley and district,to distant London, though it must be said that by the 1840's improved roadtransport and communications were rapidly shrinking the 50 or so miles that laybetween Offley and London.  This move onthe part of Thomas Bates was to herald the beginning of the gradualdisappearance of the Bates family from the North Herts area.  By the end of the Nineteenth Centuryvirtually all traces of our Bates family was gone from Offley, Flamstead anddistrict.  Nonetheless the sixthgeneration of the Bates family provides us with plenty of evidence that at thebeginning of the Nineteenth Century and for several more decades, the familyremained a force to be reckoned with in the area.

 

There are some members of thesixth generation of the Bates family about whom only the barest details of abirth date is known.  On the other handsome interesting details emerge about others. For example, James Bates, born in 1809, the eight child of John andElizabeth Bates married Sophia and they had a total of nine childrenthemselves, six of whom were twins.

 

The Kidman family was, like theBates family, quite an influential farming family, along with the Olneys andthere is evidence of frequent intermarriage between the three families.

 

John Bates V's will is anothersource of information about his children who were part of the family's sixthgeneration.  The will is dated 9 April 1843.  His sons John, William and Edmund were toshare all their father's freehold and copyhold estate and were appointedExecutors.  All the rest of his estateand personal effects were to be sold and equally divided up between his 12children.  John had already received£1000 and this was to be deducted from his share.  William too, had received £500 and this was also to bededucted.  Elizabeth, who had marriedWilliam Blott of Barton, had earlier died and her children were to receive hershare, less £200 already given to Elizabeth. Edmund had also earlier received £200 that was to be deducted from hisshare of the legacy.  The same appliedto James. The will further reveals that Hannah had also married into the Blottfamily; her husband was probably a brother of her brother-in-law William, andwas called James.

 

The census of 1851 reveals thatMatilda Bates, born in 1817 and aged 33 at the time of the census, was livingat a farm in nearby Lilley.  She hadmoved less far away than her brother Edmund from their place of birth; it isinteresting to discover at this time what small horizons most people had whenit came to setting up homes of their own. There were all sorts of constraints on moving far away.  Matilda was unmarried and was farming 140acres and employing 5 labourers.

 

However, as good fortune wouldhave it, the member of the sixth generation of the Bates family of whom themost information has come to light is Thomas Bates who is the author's great,great grandfather.  Thomas was baptisedon 29 June 1806 and his parents were George and Jane (nee Pope) Bates. 

 

Thomas Bates was born in theparish of Flamstead, Hertfordshire and baptised in the parish church of St.Leonards.  Flamstead, as we have seen,is situated about 9 miles distance, in a south-westerly direction, from thevillage of Offley.  His father, George,was born and baptised in Offley, while his mother, Jane, came from Luton.  It is reasonable to suppose that Flamsteadwas considered by Thomas' parents a convenient place to settle being roughlyequi-distant from Offley and Luton. George Bates named his first four children George, after himself, Janeafter his wife, Sarah after his mother and Thomas after his father.  The next son, Samuel, was probably namedafter Jane's father Samuel Haydon.  (TheSamuel Haydon who was a witness at her wedding to George was in all probabilityher brother.)  Jane was a widow, hermaiden name being Haydon.

 

 

16.  JOHN6 BATES VI (son of JOHN5 [6]) was born 1795 in Flamstead, Herts,England, died c. 1863 in Limbury-cum-Biscot, Luton and was buried in CrawleyGreen Road Cemetary, Luton, Beds, England. He married SARAH KIDMAN 17 Jul1817.  She was born c. 1796, and died1869 in Limbury-cum-Biscot and was also buried in Crawley Green Road Cemetary,Luton

 

Children of JOHN BATES and SARAH KIDMAN are:

30.     i.   JOHN7 BATES VII, b. 1818, Offley, Herts,England; d. 05 Oct 1868.

31.    ii.   ANNBATES, b. 1820, Offley, Herts, England.

32.   iii.   THOMAS BATES, b. 1823, Offley, Herts, England.

 

 

17.  WILLIAM6 BATES (son of JOHN5 [6])  was born 1799 in Flamstead, Herts, England,died 1865 and buried 1865, Harpenden, Herts, England.  He married (1) MARY COX 1825.  She died 1830 and was buried in Sandridge, Herts, England.  He married (2) JANE BURCHMORE Aft. 1830, daughter of WILLIAM BURCHMORE and HANNAH DOLLING. She was born c. 1805 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

 

By 1850 William had moved to the 363acre Piggots Farm at Wheathamstead which became the new home for the 7thgeneration Bates children.

 

Children of WILLIAM BATES and MARY COX are:

                i.   MARY ANN7 BATES, b. 1825, Lilley, Herts, England;d. 1884; m. JONATHON COX,1847, Hitchen, Herts, England; d. 1881.

               ii.   EMMA BATES,b. 1828, Lilley, Herts, England.

     

Children of WILLIAM BATES and JANE BURCHMORE are:

        iii.   CHARLOTTE7 BATES, b. 1835, Luton, Bedfordshire,England.

        iv.   WILLIAM BATES, b. 1836, Harpenden, Herts,England.

         v.   JANE BATES, b. 1838, St Pauls Walden, Herts,England.

33.   vi.   EDMUND BATES, b. 1839, St Pauls Walden, Herts,England.

       vii.   GEORGE BATES, b. 1842, St Pauls Walden, Herts,England.

      viii.   JOHN BATES, b. 1848, St Pauls Walden, Herts,England.

 

 

18.  EDMUND6 BATES (son of JOHN5 [6])  was born 1804 in Flamstead, Herts, England,died 12 Jul 1848 and buried Jul 1848, St Mary's Parish Churchyard, Luton.  He married ELIZABETH ?.  She was born c. 1791.

 

The 1841census for Wheathamstead, situated several miles south of Offley, reveals thatEdmund Bates, born in 1804 and aged 36 at the time of the census was living inthe Batford Flour Mills, and employed as a miller and farmer. 

 

Children of EDMUND BATES and ELIZABETH ? are:

    i.   ANNE7 BATES, b. 1821, Wheathampstead, Herts,England.

    ii.   MARY ANN BATES, b. 1825, Wheathampstead, Herts,England.

   iii.   CHARLOTTE BATES, b. 1834, Wheathampstead, Herts, England.

   iv.   WILLIAM BATES, b. 1836, Wheathampstead, Herts,England.

 

 

19.  HANNAH6 BATES (dau. of JOHN5 [6])  was born 1806 in Flamstead, Herts,England.  She married JAMES BLOTT Bef. 1840. 

 

In 1851 the census of that yearrevealed Hannah living with her husband, James, at 239, High Holborn, Finsbury,in the parish of St. Giles in the Fields. Living in the house were 3 of James'children, Helen and Walter by his first marriage, and Edmund by his secondwife, Hannah. Three domestic servants also lived in, two of whom were assistingin the bakery business which James ran and owned. Edmund was baptised inDunstable despite living in London. The reason for this was undoubtedly becauseon the same day, his mother's sister, Sarah, who had married a well-knownDunstable butcher, Henry Parrott, had their son, Henry, baptised at Dunstable.Quite a family occasion!

     

Child of HANNAH BATES and JAMES BLOTT is:

                i.   EDMUND7 BLOTT,b. 1839 in London and baptised 29 Aug 1839, Dunstable, Beds, England

 

 

20.  JAMES6 BATES (son of JOHN5 [6]) wasborn 1809 in Flamstead, Herts, England, and died 23 Dec 1853 and buried Dec1853, St Mary's Parish Churchyard, Luton. He married SOPHIA PRICE 1838 in Leighton Buzzard, Beds,England.  She was born 1813 in LeightonBuzzard, Beds, England.

 

Children of JAMES BATES and SOPHIA PRICE are:

                i.   ROSA7 BATES,b. 1838, Lilley, Herts, England.

               ii.   SOPHIA BATES,b. 1839, Lilley, Herts, England; d. died an infant ?.

               iii.   SOPHIA BATES,b. 1840, Lilley, Herts, England.

               iv.   THOMAS PRICE BATES, b. 1841, Lilley, Herts, England.

                v.   ELIZABETH BATES,b. 1844 and baptised  23 Jun 1844 in Flamstead,Herts, England; d. died an infant ?.

               vi.   SARAH BATES,b. 1844 and baptised  23 Jun 1844 in Flamstead,Herts, England.

              vii.   ALICE BATES,b. 1848 and baptised 01 Oct 1848 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

             viii.   JAMES FREDERICK BATES, b.1848 and baptised 01 Oct 1848 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

              ix.   ELLEN BATES,b. 1850 and baptised 01 Sep 1850 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

               x.   LUCY BATES,b. 1850 and baptised 01 Sep 1850 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

              xi.   ELIZABETH BATES,b. 1852 and baptised 06 Jan 1852 in Flamstead, Herts, England.

 

 

21.  SARAH6 BATES (dau. of JOHN5 [6])  was born 1811 in Flamstead, Herts,England.  She married HENRY PARROTT of Dunstable, Beds, England. 

 

Children of SARAH BATES and HENRY PARROTT are:

                i.   ELIZABETH7 PARROTT,b. c. 1838.

               ii.   HENRY PARROTT,b. c. 1839.

 

 

22.  GEORGE6 BATES (son of JOHN5 [6]) wasborn 1813 in Flamstead, Herts, England, and died 1855.  He married (1) MARY ANN ? Bef. 1839.  She was born 1820, and died Bef. 1844.  He married (2) LAVINIA HARRIET SHEPPARD 1844 in Offley, Herts, England,daughter of RICHARD SHEPPARDand ELIZABETH ?.  She was born 1803, baptised 14 Jul 1803 anddied 12 Jul 1854 in Offley, Herts, England.

 

In 1829 George Bates was being employed as a gamekeeper at nearby Aldenham,for the joint Lords of the Manor, Sir Charles William Flint, John GeorgeWoodford Esq. and John Athol Hammett Esq.

 

1851 census returns for Offleyreveal that George was a tenant farmer of Angels Farm which extended to 250acres and employed 8 labourers.  Adomestic servant aged 24 lived with them and two farm labourers, aged 14 &18. George was recorded as aged 38, Lavinia as 45. In fact Lavinia was aged 48.

 

Lavinia Sheppard was the daughter of Richard Sheppard (who died on 19 February 1837 aged55) and Elizabeth Sheppard.  He was theone-time owner of Little Offley.  Theestate descended to a sister of Lavinia, Mary Hill Sheppard, but it wouldappear that Lavinia was well provided for in her father's will, a fact that mayor may not have influenced George Bates in his decision to marry Lavinia, awoman some 10 years his senior.  Laviniadied 1854, aged 51, and there is a fine memorial slab in Offley Church whichcommemorates her death, as well as other members of her family.

 

The following information was alsoprovided by Allan Booth whose wife, Jean (nee Jakins), is the author's fourthcousin.

 

"Lavinia was born to Richard and ElizabethShepherd, and baptised on 14 July 1803. Her first marriage was to Richard Marsh on 24 November 1830 atOffley.  Richard died in 1838, he wasburied at Offley and was described as a gentleman farmer of Offley Hoo.

 

In less than 12 months, Lavinia had remarried.  Her second husband was one George Sutton, amiller of Wheathampstead.  They weremarried on January 10th 1839 at Wheathampstead.  Lavinia was listed on the marriage certificate as a Widow ofOffley Hoo.  They set up home back inOffley and the 1841 census revealed them living with Lavinia's son by her firstmarriage, Richard Marsh.  George Suttondied and was buried at Offley on 18 August 1842, aged 33 years.

 

In 1844 she married for the third time, this timeinto the Bates family.  Her thirdhusband was George Bates."

 

Children of GEORGE BATES and MARY ? are:

                i.   GEORGE7 BATES,b. 1839, Little Hormead, Herts, England.

               ii.   JOSEPH BATES,b. 1841, Offley, Herts, England.

 

 

23.  ANN6 BATES (dau. of JOHN5 [6])was born 1821 in Offley, Herts, England, and died 31 Jan 1889 and was buried inDunstable, Beds, England.  She married(1) JOHN SQUIRE of Dunstable.  He died 1845.  She married (2) WILLIAM LAKE 1848.  He was born 1821, and died 25 Jul 1885 in Offley, Herts, England.

 

Between 1862 and 1871 William andAnn separated; Ann's will asserts that William deserted her.

 

Ann moved to Dunstable after thebreak-up of her marriage to William.

 

The census return for 1871 revealsthe fact that Ann was living at 55, West St. Court, Dunstable with herdaughters Laura, Sarah, Anna and Mary. Apart from Mary who was still a"scholar", all the rest were involved in the straw bonnet business.

 

The marriage certificate of WilliamLake and Ann Squire (1848) reveals that William Lake was a"traveller".  By the time Marywas born, her father was recorded on the birth certificate as a farmer.

 

The Lakes were an establishedfarming family in Offley and it was a bit of a surprise for Rosemary Day todiscover that William had taken up the life of a gypsy.

 

The census return for 1871 revealsWilliam was in lodgings in Offley, described as an unemployed farm bailey andlodging at the Cock Inn and near relatives. Ann died in 1889.

 

However, at the time of his death in1885, he was recorded as a farm labourer. He died aged 65 years and 11 monthsand was found dead in Warrenstone Field at Offley. The causes of death werestated by the Hitchen coroner as sunstroke and natural causes.

 

Child of ANN BATES and JOHN SQUIRE is:

34.     i.   JOHN8 SQUIRE, b. 1844.

 

Children of ANN BATES and WILLIAM LAKE are:

               ii.   ELIZABETH ANN8 LAKE, b. 1849, Lilley, Herts, England;d. 1904.

Elizabeth had left home by 1871 and was inservice in London. She later trained as a Nightingale nurse and worked at StThomas's Hospital before moving to Winchester. She died never having married.

               iii.   LAURA LAKE,b. 1852, Offley, Herts, England; d. 1915 and buried 1915, Dunstable, Beds,

Laura remained a spinster all her life

               iv.   SARAH LAKE,b. 1853, Offley, Herts, England.

She remained a spinster all her life

                v.   WALTER LAKE,b. 1854, d. 1855 and buried in Offley, Herts, England, died an infant.

               vi.   ANNA MARIA LAKE, b. 1856, Offley, Herts, England;d. 1876 and buried 1876, Dunstable, Beds,

35.   vii.   MARY HANNAH LAKE, b. 24 Dec 1861, Offley, Herts,England; d. 1929.

 

 

24.  THOMAS6 BATES (son of George5 [7]) was born 1806 and baptised 29 Jun1806 in Flamstead, Herts, England.  Hemarried (1) ELIZABETH ?c. 1835.  She was born c. 1809, died 24Jan 1837 and was buried 30 Jan 1837 in Flamstead, Herts, England  He married (2) ALICE MORROWE DAVIES 31 Mar 1838 in Paternoster, London,daughter of CHARLES DAVIES and ANNA NEWTON. She was born 1803 and baptised 19 Apr 1803,in Blackfriars, London,England.

 

After 1841, Thomas Bates and his wife, Alice applied for and obtained aposition in nearby Hitchen in the Union Workhouse.  Few records of any kind for the 1840s have survived relating toHitchen Workhouse.  However, a search ofthe Minutes of the Hitchen Board of Guardians (locally responsible for the careof the poor) which, although largely administrative in content, included listsof paupers receiving out-relief and some other references to individualpaupers, did reveal the following entry in the Minutes of 23 January 1844.

 

     "TheBoard this day appointed Thomas Bates, aged 37 and his wife,

     Alice,aged 39, Porter and Assistant at the Union Workhouse in the

     Roomof Mr E. Driscoll the late porter who has resigned, at a salary

     of12 shillings and sixpence per week with their Board and Lodging."

 

A later entry clarifies why Thomaswas referred to as a baker in the baptism entry for his son, for when heattended the Board of Guardian's meeting a week later, on 30 January 1844 andinformed the Board he was able to take up the appointment on 2 February 1844 he"was informed by the Board that, in addition to his duties as prescribedin the General Workhouse rules, he is to have the management of thebaking".

 

Through checking the lists ofquarterly wages payments it is possible to establish when Thomas and Alice leftthe workhouse.  The Minutes of 23 June1846 read...

 

     "MrThomas Bates, the porter, attended the Board this day, and

     reportedthat he had obtained a situation in London and requested

     permissionto leave the service of the union on Saturday next which

     wasgranted."

 

The 1851 census reveals Thomas andAlice Bates living with their three sons in the parish of Islington, in theborough of Finsbury, in London. Henry George, his elder brother, Charles W.Bates and a younger son, George  M.Tilly Bates.  Thomas was employed as astore house clerk. He was no longer working in the baking/brewing business

 

The 1851 census did not reveal amost exciting discovery made regarding Thomas and Alice’s family.  There was no mention of a daughter, Mary S.Bates. Thomas and Alice had a further addition to their family when, in 1847,hard on the birth of George M. Bates, a daughter was born in Reading. In thecensus return of 1901, Mary S Bates was revealed, living or staying at the homeof her brother, George, sister-in-law, Maria and their family in Bedford. Bythis time, the only son remaining at home was William S Bates.  Could it be that the birth of Henry George’ssister, Mary, in Reading, provides the link that eventually resulted in himmarrying a Reading girl, Mary Spencer Longhurst? And why wasn’t Mary S. Batesmentioned in the 1851 census? Was she brought up in Reading?

 

The census return of 1841inaccurately gives her age as 34.  Shewas in fact 37.  It is possible shetried to conceal her true age from her husband. 

 

There is anecdotal evidence thatThomas and Alice had another son. Thomas' great-granddaughter, Heather Bates who died in 1991 wrote aletter to the author on 16 June 1990 in which she asserted.... "There wasalso a brother of Grandfather Bates who lived in Bedford as aSchoolmaster".  I have not beenable to trace this issue. [see below for a reappraisal]

 

On moving to London, Thomas musthave plied his trade as a baker, and some time later acquired the additionalskills of a brewer.  On his son'smarriage certificate in 1873 - Thomas was by this time 67 years of age -Thomas' occupation was given as that of brewer.  Perhaps it was at the "Sugar Loaf" a public house inLittle College Street, off College Street, in the City of London that he pickedup the skills of a brewer.  In 1841 hissister-in-law, Esther was working and living in the "Sugar Loaf" asan assistant licensed victualler along with a John Davies, aged 26, thelicensee, and two other members of the Davies family, Esther aged 15 and Jamesaged 15.  Henry Davies, Thomas'brother-in-law was living, in 1841, in the family home, 6 College Street, Cityof London, and was the Parish Clerk and Beadle of Innkeepers Hall - St.Anne.  He was 46, his wife Mary 43.  Thomas therefore, on moving back to London,must have had close connections with the licensed trade which probably explainshis diversification into brewing.

 

The date and whereabouts of hisdeath are unknown.

     

Child of THOMAS BATES and ELIZABETH ? is:

                i.   WILLIAM7 BATES,b. c. 1835, baptised 05 Jul 1835, Flamstead, Herts, d. died an infant and wasburied in Offley, Herts, England.

     

Children of THOMAS BATES and ALICE DAVIES are:

36.    ii.   CHARLES W7 BATES,b. c. 1843, Offley, Herts, England; d. Bef. 1881.

37.   iii.   HENRY GEORGE BATES, b. 13 Mar 1845, Hitchin, Herts,England; d. 31 Jan 1922, Plymouth, Devon, England.

38.   iv.   GEORGE MTILLY BATES, b. c. 1847, Islington, London,England.

         v.   MARY S. BATES, b. 1847, Reading, Berks, England.

 

 

25.  WILLIAM6 BATES (son of THOMAS WELCH5 [8]) was born 1797 and baptised 03 Jun 1798 in Offley, Herts,England, and died 1845.  He met FRANCIS JAKINS. She was the Housekeeper!

 

William Bates was less than a yearold when his mother died in childbirth, giving birth to his sister Sarah.  In the absence of any re-marriagecertificate, it seems appropriate to assume that William's father, Thomas WelchBates remained a widower.  He died atHitchin on December 1st 1846, 'certified senile'.

 

William somehow went to Eversholtwhere perhaps he was looked after by his grandfather's family; William Deaconcame from Tingrith, next door to Eversholt. The Deacons were a populous family in this area, dating back to1600.  William somehow inherited 25acres of land, a house and a cottage at the age of 17.  This land had previously been farmed by theDeacons.

 

William had an illegitimate son byhis housekeeper, Francis Jakins.  Alsocalled William, he was baptised William Jakins on 3 April 1831 at Mauldon.  William Bates maintained and kept the lad,leaving him a trust fund in his Will. When William Jakins married he was called on the marriage certificateWilliam Jakins Bates.  This was the lasttime he used the name Bates.  WilliamBates died in 1845 and the farm was sold to a John Holmes.

 

Child of WILLIAM BATES and FRANCIS JAKINS is:

                i.   WILLIAM BATES7 JAKINS, b. 1831 and baptised 03 Apr 1831,Maulden, Beds, England.

William (his father) had an illegitimate son by hishousekeeper, Francis Jakins.  Alsocalled William, he was baptised William Jakins.  William Bates (father) maintained and kept the lad, leaving him atrust fund in his Will.  When WilliamJakins married he was called on the marriage certificate William JakinsBates.  This was the last time he usedthe name Bates. 

 

 

26.  SARAH6 LANE (dau. of HANNAH5 [10]) wasborn 1811 and baptised 14 Apr 1811 in Offley, Herts, England.  She married JAMES CAWDLE JEEVES 26 Mar 1834 in Offley, Herts,England.  He was born 1808 in Hitchin, andbaptised 21 Sep 1808, St. Mary’s, Hitchin, Herts, England.

 

Children of SARAH LANE and JAMES JEEVES are:

         i.   ALFRED7 JEEVES, b. 1835 and baptised 26 Jun 1835 inHitchen, Herts, England.

        ii.   MARIA JEEVES, b. 1837 and baptised 09 Jun 1837in Hitchen, Herts, England.

        iii.   WILTON JEEVES, b. c. 1840 and baptised 31 Jan1840 in Hitchen, Herts, England.

39.   iv.   HENRY JEEVES, b. 1842, Hitchen, Herts, England.

 

 

27.  SAMUEL6 HAYDON (son of SARAH5 [11]) wasborn c. 1803.  He married MARY SAMM15 Nov 1827 in Caddington, Beds, England. 

     

Children of SAMUEL HAYDON and MARY SAMM are:

                i.   SAMUEL FRANKLIN7 HAYDON, b. 1842 and baptised 25 May 1842,East Hyde, Beds.

               ii.   ELLEN HAYDON,b. c. 1844, New Mill End, Beds, England; m. EZRA PIGGOTT of Luton, 27 Sep 1871, East Hyde; b.c. 1840, Woodside, Beds. (Census: 1881, butcher)

40.   iii.   JANE HAYDON, b. c. 1845, New Mill End, Beds,England.

               iv.   MARY HAYDON,b. 1847 and baptised 04 Jul 1847, East Hyde, Beds, England.

                v.   THOMAS HAYDON,b. 1848 and baptised 03 Dec 1848, East Hyde, Beds, England.

 

 

28.  HANNAH6 HAYDON (dau. of SARAH5 [11]) wasborn 1820 and baptised 29 Aug 1820 in Luton, Beds, England.  She married DANIEL HARFORD COX 12 Oct 1843 in St. Mary’s, Luton,Beds, England. 

 

Children of HANNAH HAYDON and DANIEL COX are:

                i.   JOHN HAYDON7 COX, b. 1844 and baptised 22 Sep 1844in East Hyde, Beds.

               ii.   CHARLES HENRY COX, b. 1846 and baptised 22 Mar 1846in East Hyde, Beds.

               iii.   ANNIE COX, b.1853 and baptised in Luton, Beds, England.

 

 

29.  JOSEPH6 BATES (son of JOSEPH5 [13]) wasborn 1813 and baptised 04 Jul 1813 in Offley, Herts, England, and died 1882 inLilley, Herts, England.  He married ANN MOLES14 Oct 1834 in Bishopgate, London, England. She was born 1814 in Stevenage, Herts, England, and died 1885 in Lilley,Herts, England.

 

Joseph Batesbecame a builder by trade. Joseph was an extremely successful builder andequally fruitful as a father. In 1851 he was identified in the census as aMaster Builder employing 15 men and in 1881, shortly before he died he employed32 men and 7 apprentices and boys.

 

The family of Ann Moles can be traced back to one Risely Moles, b. about 1560.

     

Children of JOSEPH BATES and ANN MOLES are:

                i.   GEORGE MOULES7 BATES, b. 1836, Stevenage, Herts,England; m. (1) JANE REBECCA RICKETT, 1882, London, England; b. 1845,Cambridge, England; d. Bef. 1905; m. (2) CLARA NICHOLLS, 1905; b. c. 1840.

In 1851 he was a Keeper of Beer Shop, Railway Inn,Stevenage, in 1881 a builder and in 1891 a carpenter and builder.

               ii.   SARAH ANN BATES, b. 1838, Stevenage, Herts,England; d. 05 Sep 1917, Stevenage, Herts, England.

               iii.   ELIZABETH BATES,b. 1840, Stevenage, Herts, England; d. 1843, Stevenage, Herts, England.

               iv.   MARIA BATES,b. 1842, Stevenage, Herts, England.

                v.   LEVINIA BATES,b. 1845, Stevenage, Herts, England.

               vi.   EDMOND A BATES, b. 1846, Stevenage, Herts, England.

              vii.   JOSEPH BATES,b. 1848, Stevenage, Herts, England; d. 1918, Stevenage, Herts, England. 1891Census: Grocer

             viii.   HENRY BATES, b. 1850,Stevenage, Herts, England; d. 1899, Stevenage, Herts, England.

              ix.   ELEANOR BATES,b. 1851, Stevenage, Herts, England; d. 1857, Stevenage, Herts, England.

               x.   WILLIAM BATES,b. 1852, Stevenage, Herts, England.

              xi.   HERBERT BATES,b. 1854, Stevenage, Herts, England; d. May 1892, Stevenage, Herts, England.

In 1981 he was a builder, in 1891 he was an assistantbuilder!

              xii.   EDGAR BATES,b. 1859, Stevenage, Herts, England.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 7

 

 

30.  JOHN7 BATES VII (son of JOHN6 [16]) was born 1818 and baptised 14 Oct1818, in Offley, Herts, England, He died 05 Oct 1868 and buried Crawley GreenRoad Cemetery, Luton, Beds, England.  Hemarried SOPHIA ?.  He was a carpenter

     

Children of JOHN BATES and SOPHIA ? are:

41.     i.   GEORGE HENRY8 BATES, b. 1840.

        ii.   EMILY BATES, b. 1843, baptised 06 Aug 1843,Codicote, Herts, England; m. GEORGE WORLD.

        iii.   CAROLINE BATES, b. 1845 and baptised 10 Aug 1845,Codicote, Herts, England.

42.   iv.   AMOS BATES, b. 1848, Codecote, Herts, England;d. 1921, Codecote, Herts, England.

         v.   HARRIET BATES, b. 1849 and baptised 14 Oct 1849,Codicote, Herts, England.

        vi.   REBECCA BATES, b. 1851 and baptised 09 Nov 1851,Codicote, Herts, England.

       vii.   ELIZA BATES, b. 1854 and baptised 02 Apr 1854,Codicote, Herts, England.

      viii.   LUCY BATES, b. 1858 and baptised 02 May 1858,Codicote, Herts, England.

       ix.   WILLIAM BATES, b. 1860, Codicote, Herts, England.

 

 

31.  ANN7 BATES (dau. of JOHN6 [16]) wasborn 1820 in Offley, Herts, England. She married CHRISTOPHER TOMSON.

 

Children of ANN BATES and CHRISTOPHER TOMSON are:

                i.   SARAH ANNA8 TOMSON, b. 1845.

               ii.   JOHN CHRISTOPHER TOMSON, b.1846.

               iii.   CHARLES TOMSON, b. 1848.

               iv.   CHARLOTTE TOMSON, b. 1849.

                v.   MARY ELIZA TOMSON, b. 1851.

               vi.   EDWARD JOHN TOMSON, b. 1853; d. 1856.

 

 

32.  THOMAS7 BATES (son of JOHN6 [16]) wasborn 1823 and baptised 23 Jun 1823 in Offley, Herts, England.  He married (1) CHARLOTTE ?. She was born c. 1817 in Shillington, Bedfordshire, England, and died1856 and buried 03 Apr 1856, Crawley Green Road Cemetary, Luton,.  He married (2) EMMA ?. She was born c. 1828 in Faversham, Kent, England.  He married (3) MARY ANN ?. She was born 1836 in Hitchin, Herts, England and buried Crawley GreenRoad Cemetary, Luton,

 

Thomas had a total of seven childrenby his three wives. The census return for 1851 shows Thomas farming at HillFarm, Barton, which totalled 440 acres and employed 21 men and 4 boys. Thecensus return for 1871 shows Thomas, Mary Ann and 5 of his children living atEaton Green Farm, Luton. This farm consisted of 550 acres and is now buriedunderneath Luton Airport! By 1881, the family had moved to Anstey in NEHertfordshire and resided in the Hall. This was a 690 acre farm, employing 21men and 7 boys. Three of their children lived with them at the time of thecensus. John Bates VII was also buried in the same cemetery in Luton as othermembers of his family.

 

Children of THOMAS BATES and CHARLOTTE ? are:

                i.   ELLEN S8 BATES, b. 1852, Barton Eaton, Beds, England.

               ii.   ANN BATES,b. 1857, Eaton Green, Beds, England.

 

      Children of THOMAS BATES and EMMA ? are:

               iii.   JANE8 BATES,b. 1864 and baptised 06 Feb 1862 in Eaton Green, Beds, England.

               iv.   MARY BATES,b. 1862, Eaton Green, Beds, England; d. 24 Sep 1862, died an infant.

                v.   EDITH BATES,b. 16 Sep 1864, Eaton Green, Beds, England; d. 29 Sep 1864, died an infant.

     

Children of THOMAS BATES and MARY ? are:

               vi.   JOHN8 BATES,b. 1867, Eaton Green, Beds, England.

              vii.   THOMAS EDWARD BATES, b. 1870, Eaton Green, Beds,England.

             viii.   MARION BATES,b. 1872, Eaton Green, Beds, England.

              ix.   FRANK BATES,b. 1874, Eaton Green, Beds, England.

 

 

33.  EDMUND7 BATES (son of of WILLIAM 6 [17]) was born 1839 in St Pauls Walden,Herts, England.  He married MARY KIDMAN 1873.  She was born c. 1843 inLimbury-cum-Biscot, Luton, Beds, England.

     

The couple were farming the Grange,at Limbury-cum-Biscott, Luton. This was an a large farm - the Bates family seemto have been successful as farmers, taking on big properties - consisting of420 acres, and Edmund employed 10 men and 8 boys. Six men and women lived in atthe Grange.

 

Children of EDMUND BATES and MARY KIDMAN are:

         i.   WILLIAM PERCY8 BATES, b. 1875, Limbury-cum-Biscot,Luton, Beds, England.

        ii.   EDMUND CECIL BATES, b. 1878, Limbury-cum-Biscot,Luton, Beds, England.

        iii.   THOMAS BURCHMORE BATES, b. 1880, Limbury-cum-Biscot,Luton, Beds, England.

        iv.   ARTHUR JOHN BATES, b. 1881, Limbury-cum-Biscot,Luton, Beds, England.

 

 

34.  JOHN8 SQUIRE (son of ANN7 BATES  [23])was born 1844.  He married FRANCES HONOUR STANBRIDGE 1872. 

 

       John Squire was a butcher

     

Child of JOHN SQUIRE and FRANCES STANBRIDGE is:

                i.   FRANCES ANNIE9 SQUIRE.

 

 

35.  MARY HANNAH8 LAKE (dau. of ANN7 BATES  [23]) was born 24 Dec 1861 in Offley,Herts, England, and died 1929 and buried Dunstable, Beds, England.  She married EDWARD COOK 1900. 

 

Edward Cookwas a twice widowed man in his 50's when he married Mary Hannah and had a grownup family by his second wife. They lived at Dunstable.

     

Children of MARY LAKE and EDWARD COOK are:

         i.   ELSIE9 COOK.

43.    ii.   EDNA COOK.

 

 

36.  CHARLES W7 BATES (son ofof THOMAS6 [24]) was born c. 1843 in Offley, Herts,England, and died Bef. 1881.  He marriedELIZABETH EMMA SNOW DAWSON 20 Mar 1866 in Bedford, England, daughter of WILLIAM MARKWELL DAWSON. She was born c. 1842 and baptised 25 Jun in Elstow, Beds, England.

 

In 1881 the family, with Elizabeth as head, lived at 2, AlbertCottages, Chigwell, Essex and lived off income from Home Property. She wasstill alive and living at the same address in 1891, aged 47. However, she wasno longer there in 1901, either having died or moved away.

 

Children of CHARLES BATES and ELIZABETH DAWSON are:

                i.   LAURA C8 BATES, b. c. 1868, Southampton, Hants, England.

               ii.   ANGELA R BATES, b. Stepney, Middlesex.

 

 

37.  HENRY GEORGE7 BATES (son of of THOMAS 6 [24]) was born 13 Mar 1845, birthregistered 14 Apr 1845, baptised 16 May 1845 in Hitchin, Herts, England. He died(heart attack) 31 Jan 1922 and was buried in Plymouth, Devon, England.  He married MARY SPENCER LONGHURST 03 Apr 1873 in Reading, Berks,England, daughter of EBENEZER LONGHURST and MARY FRANCIS. She was born 18 May 1846 inReading, Berks, England, birth registered 23 Jun 1846 and died (heart attack) 26May 1925 in Plymouth, Devon, England.

 

Henry George Bates grew up and entered the world of trade and commerce, and at the time ofhis marriage, in 1873, he was a salesman, living in Newport, Monmouthshire,South Wales. 

 

He married Mary Spencer Longhurst,aged 26, the daughter of Ebenezer, a Reading builder, and Mary Longhurst (neeFrancis) at St. Giles Parish Church, Reading. Evidently they were a well-educated, responsible and aspiring couplewhose background indicated lower-middle class origins, on which they wouldbuild. 

 

Mary's siblings were Ebenezer,b.1850, Charles, b.1852, Edwin, b.1853, Kate, b.1848 and Alice who died aged 48of multiple sclerosis. 

 

Ebenezer, her father, gave hisoccupation as that of a joiner on the birth certificate.  By the time Mary was 12 her father haddied.  His death was from syphilis.  He died in Littlemore Lunatic Asylum and was"generally paralysed".  Thecircumstances of his death must have weighed heavily on the whole family andundoubtedly Mary assumed a heavy responsibility in assisting her mother tobring up the children.  Within sevenyears her mother, too was dead, probably as a result of the same affliction.

 

The newly-married couple settled inNewport after their marriage, living close to the commercial centre of therapidly growing town of Newport.  Theprosperity of this South Wales port was burgeoning as a result of the expansionof the coal and iron industries of Monmouthshire.  They lived at 9 Hill Street, a steeply-inclined street leadingoff Commercial Street - today the town's shopping centre.

 

The house Henry and Mary lived inNewport has been demolished, but similar houses in the street still exist onboth sides of where No. 9 once stood to give a good idea of what their firsthome looked like.  Of course, it is notknown whether the couple rented rooms, or occupied the whole house.  In any event, the family quickly grew insize.  In 1874, within 10 months ofmarrying, their first son, Henry Wilbeforce, had been born.  By this time Henry George was employed as anupholsterer.  In c.1878, he moved hisfamily to Plymouth where he had obtained the position of furnishing salesmanworking for a Mr Davies of Old-Town Street, Plymouth.  The couple were to spend the rest of their lives in Plymouth. 

 

In about 1892 Mr Davies's firm wastaken over by a much larger concern, Popham's Ltd. and Henry George continuedto be employed by this important departmental store the rest of his workinglife.  For the next ten years he workedas a buyer in the Furniture Department, and thereafter he was the"conductor of funerals and removals".  In modern terms he was the Funeral Director at Pophams.  Somewhat strangely, however, his occupationon his death certificate was given as that of 'furniture salesman' - areference perhaps to the fact he dealt in coffins.

 

The family first took up residencein Plymouth at 4 Endsleigh Cottages. Later they moved to 7 Hyde Park Terrace,Compton Gifford, Plymouth.  In 1904 theymoved again this time to 132 Mount Gould Road, and in 1910 the family's finalmove was made to 7, Diamond Avenue.

 

 Apart from his work, and his role as the head of a large family,Henry George Bates was a devoutly religious man, worshipping in CharlesChurch.  For many years he was a Churchwardenat the church where the whole family worshipped every Sunday - like his greatgrandfather, Thomas 'The Churchwarden' Bates. He was also a Lay Reader.  Thewhole family of 15 occupied the front two pews of Charles Church.  A former colleague of his, a retiredDirector of Pophams, Mr E.J. Doidge, recalled in 1975 that he well rememberedfrom about 1898 the family preceding in columns of two to Charles Church, viaLipson Road, the smallest pair in front and so on to Mother and Father at therear.  Mr Doidge went on to recall thatHenry George Bates "was a man very conscious of the responsibility anddignity of his funeral duties and was held in considerable esteem and possiblyawe by his contemporaries".  In hisobituary notice, it stated he was known throughout Plymouth and in all parts ofDevon and Cornwall.

 

Henry George died suddenly of aheart attack and on the evening of his death he had attended a churchmeeting.  He was a few weeks short ofhis 77th Birthday when he died.  Hiswife, Mary Spencer (nee Longhurst) Bates lived a further three years.  She died, also of a heart attack aged79.  Her daughter Marion was with herwhen she died.

 

Mary Spencer Longhurst was mentionedin the census of 1871 as an assistant, along with 23 other ‘assistants’, livingin the Civil parish of St. Mary, Berkshire.

 

Children of HENRY BATES and MARY LONGHURST are:

44.     i.   HENRY WILBERFORCE8 BATES, b. 07 Jan 1874, Newport,Monmouthshire, England; d. 1941.

        ii.   ALICE MARY BATES, b. 03 May 1875, Newport, Monmouthshire,England; d. Acton, London.

Being the eldest daughter, she helped her motherbring up her twelve surviving brothers and sisters.  She grew up with a great passion for reading and worked for ashort time as House Mother in the "Waifs and Strays" Society.  She never married.  She lived at home until the death of her mother in 1925 whereuponshe moved to Acton, in London to live with six of her brothers and sisters.

 She had avery quiet, amiable disposition and was most hospitable.  Her niece, Joyce Nicholl (née Bates)remembers being taken by her Aunt Alice to see her first ever London pantomime,"Peter Pan" starring Jean Forbes Robertson as Peter Pan.

 She died atLynton Road, Acton.

               iii.   KATE ELIZABETH BATES, b. 1877, Newport, Monmouthshire,England.

Kate or Kitty, as she was always known, became thedominant force among the elder children. Like her sister Alice, she never married, but grew up to become a verylively business woman who loved amateur dramatics and being with and helpingother people.  For many years she workedfor an oil company, Shell Mex, as a secretary. The offices were located at Shellmex House in the Strand (London).

 After thedeath of her mother in 1925, she assumed responsibility for a significant partof the family.  She made a home for sixof her brothers and sisters at Lynton Road, Acton, in North London.  Her 'family' consisted of Godfrey, Alice,Gladys, Dorothy, Ernest and Marian.  Shealso found the time, and space, to take in a lodger or two!

 

She was a bright and affectionate person and she wasasked on many occasions how they had managed in Plymouth, at home, with so manyin the family.  She always replied,"Oh, very well.  The eldestdaughter looked after the new baby and the next in line took over the "oldbaby" and so on down the family". By all accounts they were all well disciplined and help was easy toobtain for cleaning, washing, etc. with even a man to do the mangling, labourbeing very cheap at the time.

45.   iv.   ARTHUR EDWIN BATES, b. 1878, Newport, Monmouthshire,England; d. 23 Jun 1983, Hatch End, Middlesex, England.

46.    v.   GEORGE WYNDHAM BATES, b. 26 Apr 1879, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 1941, Purley, Surrey, England.

47.   vi.   FRANK SPENCER BATES, b. 11 Jan 1881, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 1965, Fishponds, Bristol, England.

       vii.   MARION GERTRUDE BATES, b. Mar 1882, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. Ashted, Surrey, England.

Like all but one of her four sisters (Dorothy) shenever married.  She served in theWomen's Army in the First World War and came to London in middle life.  She was living at home with her widowedmother and was present when Mary Spencer Bates died on 26 May 1925 of a heartattack at 7 Diamond Avenue, Plymouth. On moving to London she joined the household of unmarried brothers andsisters at Acton.  She became anaccounts clerk in one of the large London stores.  Previously, whilst living in Plymouth, she was a sales-ledgerclerk at Pophams, Radford and Co. where her father worked.  She died at Ashtead, Surrey.

             viii.   GLADYS WINIFRED BATES, b. 1883, Plymouth, Devon, England.

Like two of her brothers, she was very short instature and suffered from the crippling childhood disease, rickets. Afterleaving home she went to Acton to live and died there.  In spite of her handicap she was bright andpretty and worked very hard in both Bates households - at Plymouth andActon.  She was an intelligent and muchvalued member of the family.  A devoutchurch worker, she always had an interest in others.

              ix.   CHARLES GODFREY BATES, b. 1884, Plymouth, Devon, England;d. Acton, London, England.

Ernest and Gladys, he was short in stature andsuffered from the effects of the childhood illness, rickets.

There is an amusing story of how the two handicappedbrothers were painting by the sea-shore at Plymouth in 1914, and they werepicked up by the police, suspected of spying for the enemy - the Germans.  Apparently they were forced to spend someconsiderable time convincing the authorities of their innocence.  No doubt they were painting ships of the BritishNavy.  Godfrey pursued his fondness forpainting all his life becoming quite a gifted artist, specialising in head andshoulder portraits.

He lived in Acton, London, after moving away fromPlymouth, and never married.  He workedas a draughtsman in the City of London and eventually became Manager of theShipping Insurance Company.  By allaccounts he was a great deal of fun and much loved by his nieces andnephews.  He died in Acton.

               x.   ERNEST MORROWE BATES, b. 1885, Plymouth, Devon, England.

Ernest Morrowe Bates suffered from similar handicapsto those of his brother and sister, Godfrey and Gladys.  Whilst living in Plymouth, at home, he wasemployed as a Sales Ledger Clerk and Sanction Credit Clerk at Gieves, GeorgeStreet, Plymouth.  Later, on moving toActon, he worked for the Inland Revenue.

Like his brother, Godfrey, he was a very talentedartist and also loved fishing.  Duringthe time he lived at home in Plymouth he devoted himself to working for CharlesChurch Sunday School and also the Literary Society.  His mother, writing to another of her sons, Edward, in one letterdated 24/5/25 - the day before she died of a heart attack - said of Ernest:

"I do not think Ernest will go far away for hisholidays this year, he is very busy now arranging Sunday School treats andLiterary Society outings and sundry other duties in connection with thechurch.  I believe he is going to takeon fishing again some evening when it gets warmer."

 He, too, tooka lively interest in his numerous nieces and nephews.  Despite his handicap he loved playing strenuous games with themwhenever he had the chance.  He is alsofondly remembered as always ready to read them a story.

              xi.   HERBERT THOMAS BATES, b. Sep 1886, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 1888 of Meningitis.

48.  xii.   EDWARD WILLIAM BATES, b. Feb 1888, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 1952.

             xiii.   AGNES DOROTHY BATES, b. Aug 1890, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 1980; m. RANDOLF TOZER, 01 May 1965; b. 1898; d. Apr 1979.

Always known affectionately as "Doe".  She was very attached to her sister Kitty,and like her sister, Marion, she served in the Women's Army during the FirstWorld War.  She married - the one girlin the family so to do - very late in life, when she was in her seventies.  She married her childhood sweetheart,Randolf Tozer.  As a young girl she waswooed by Randolf but she was unable, or unwilling or even prevented fromshowing her feelings towards him.  Therewas talk of letters he had sent her having been "miscarried".  At any rate, he went to London and marriedsomeone else.  He became a CivilArchitect by profession and he drew up the plans for the Post Office Tower inLondon but retired before it was built. His marriage was not happy and when his wife died some time before 1965,he renewed his contact with Dorothy. After a short courtship they married. They went on a world cruise for their honeymoon.  Randolf, having had a very successfulcareer, was very well off and so was Dorothy in her own right, as she had beenleft £8,000 when her brother, Harry, had died in 1941.  That was a real fortune in those days, sothey lived very comfortably, and were very happy for several years.  Dorothy's niece, Mary, recalls that theywere so happy they were like a couple of teenagers!  Dorothy was Mary's Godmother and Mary grew up to feel closer toher than any of the other sisters.   Shetold me:

  "When I wastaken as a child to Acton, the other aunts would always give me 6d but AuntDorothy would always give me 2/6d! After her marriage I used to visit them - several times a year.  I would have a   day out and go to Euston by train, cross to Waterloo and then getthe   train to Ashtead.  After Randolf died I still visited her andseveral times she came and stayed with us. One Christmas she was here for 5 weeks because it snowed and we couldn'tdo the journey back."

After 5 or 6 years Randolf died, aged 81, leavingDorothy a rich widow.  She spent thefinal year or so of her life in a nursing home, becoming increasingly frail,and during her final illness, her step-daughter, Eileen took out an injunctionto alter Randolf's Will in her own favour. Dorothy died aged 90, in 1980.

Dorothy was everyone's favourite aunt, lively andhumorous.  She was a very special sisterto Edward and for a time she was housekeeper to her brother, Harry, after hiswife died.  After 1941 she went to Actonto live with several of her brothers and sisters: after the death of Randolf,she returned to Acton to live.

             xiv.   FREDERICK PERCY BATES, b. 05 Jun 1892, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. 27 Mar 1962; m. MABEL PRIOR.

He served in the First World War and was awarded theMilitary Cross.  After the war he wentup to Cambridge to study Theology and became an ordained priest in the Churchof England.  Between 1928-1936 he wasthe Vicar at St. Mary's, Leamington Spa; in 1936 he moved to All Saints, Leytonwhere he served until 1946, and then he moved to St. Michael the Archangel,Westcliffe-on-Sea.  His last living wasat Langham Parish Church.  Married toMabel (nee Prior), the couple had no children. He died on 27 March 1962.

A story, as told by sisters Kitty and Alice, andbrother Edward, related a war-time episode concerning Percy.  During World War I Percy rose to the rank ofCaptain.  He was on duty at hisheadquarters when an officer appeared and rapidly repeated a succession oforders.  Captain Bates replied,"One thing at a time, Officer, one thing at a time".  Later he was told that the"officer" was HRH The Prince of Wales.

 Two of theRev. Bates' former parishioners at Leamington Spa, Mrs E. Warr and Mr DWLangley recalled, in 1991, a few of their memories of the young curate in the1930's.  Mrs Warr wrote....

"What I do remember most vividly was the day I wasmarried, 20 August 1932.  The weddingwas timed for 11.00am. but unfortunately the train we were to catch at 3.40pm.was cancelled so the only alternative was to have the wedding at 9.00am. andcatch the only other train which left at 10.40am.  You can imagine the rush. The Rev. Bates asked for two minutes silence, while the bridegroomprayed for the bride, and the bride prayed for the bridegroom and thecongregation prayed for both of us. Never before or since have I ever heard of that, and each vicar I havementioned it to has never heard of it either. I shall never forget it, in fact I think of it each time I go into achurch."

 Mr Langleywrote....

"Myown definite memory is unfortunate - and needs some explanation ofcircumstances because I do not wish to give a wrong impression that could casta cloud.  In 1930 I had become attachedto a non-conformist church in a village some five miles from home, when Ilearnt that there was no Sunday School for the children there - as I had alwaysattended our own St. Mary's Sunday School, and by that time I was a JuniorTeacher at both morning and afternoon school. This worried me and I gave up the afternoon sessions to start a schoolin this village - the teachers at St. Mary's subscribed to a Bible for me as atoken of good will and Rev. Percy presented this Bible to me on Sunday atmorning service.  But a few weeks laterhe learnt that it was a Non-Conformist church I had gone to serve - and hecalled me into the vestry to express his disapproval saying that had he beenaware at the time he would not have said what he did when he presented thatBible."

 On a happiernote, Mr Langley recalled that after he left Leamington Spa, because of hissympathetic attitude to the Mother's Union in Leamington Spa, he and Mrs Bateswelcomed a visit to Westcliffe-on-Sea from the St. Mary's branch, M.U. memberson the occasion of their "outing" one year.

 When Percywas a Divinity student at Cambridge he would bring home fellow students to 7Diamond Avenue, Plymouth where there would be parties on festiveoccasions.  It was quite a large houseand the carpets would be rolled back for dancing and games.  Mary Spencer Bates (Percy's mother) was ofteninvited as a 'guest'.  Although a fairlyrigidly disciplined family, they were able occasionally to let their hair downand enjoy themselves.  Another formerparishioner at Leamington Spa, Miss M.E. Bromage recalled, again in 1992....

 "TheRev. Frederick Percy Bates L.T.H. is the heading on the Form of Service for theinduction of the Rev. Bates to the Parish of St. Mary's Leamington Spa, to itcould be added M.C. Durham.

 The servicetook place at 3.30pm. on Saturday January 19, 1929 by the Bishop ofCoventry.  I was not present at theservice, I was 13 years old, but quite aware that Canon Kingdom had left, thatthe Parish would miss him very much, and that we had a new vicar.

 The timepassed and Mr Bates worked amongst us and quickly became well liked.  Mrs Bates was also very much liked.  My own experience of Mr Bates was, ofcourse, from my attendance at the Sunday School, and later on as a SundaySchool teacher.  I remember he was avery kind leader and well remembered being prepared for Confirmation in1933.  But on the "Great Day"I developed German Measles and had to postpone the event.  However, Mr Bates arranged for me to attendanother service at Kenilworth, the weather was very bad, cold and deepsnow.  However, typical of Mr Bates, mymother, god-mother and myself all preceeded to Kenilworth by the local busservice for the event, it was typical of Mr Bates' care and sincerity.  The Bates' were well liked and much missedwhen they left us for Southend.

 The Rev.Bates, when at St. Mary's, was Hon. Chaplain to the South African VeteransAssociation.  They held a MemorialService every year in St. Mary's Church. Mr Bates was very proud of this honour. He was also Chaplain to the Warnford Hospital and in 1932 the PrivateWing at the Warnford was dedicated.  MrBates, was as Chaplain, present and took the service of dedication at thelaying of the foundation stone."

 

 

38.  GEORGE M TILLY7 BATES (son of of THOMAS 6 [24]) was born c. 1847 in Islington,London, England.  He married MARIA ?.  She was born 1846 in Bath, Somerset,England.

 

The 1901 census reveals that GeorgeM. T. Bates, aged 54, was living in the parish of Bedford St. Paul, Bedford andwas a schoolmaster in an elementary school. The 1901 census indicates that sons George, Leonard and Frank were notliving at home on the night of the census.

 

The 1881 census reveals that he hadmoved to Bedford to pursue his teaching career at least twenty years earlier.In 1881 he was married and living with his wife at 123 Tavistock St., BedfordSt. Paul, Bedford and was a certified school master.

 

The evidence of the 1881 censusindicates that George and his wife lived in Leeds for a number of years beforemoving south to Bedford. Their three eldest children, George, William andLeonard were all born in Leeds.

 

Children of GEORGE BATES and MARIA ? are:

                i.   GEORGE N.8 BATES, b. 1873, Leeds, Yorkshire,England.

               ii.   WILLIAM S. BATES, b. 1874, Leeds, Yorkshire,England.

The 1901 census, William was noted as living at 123Tavistock St., Bedford.

               iii.   LEONARD M. BATES, b. 1877, Leeds, Yorkshire,England.

               iv.   FRANK BATES,b. 1882, Bedford St Paul, Beds, England.

He was living in Bedford St. Paul in 1901. In thatyear he was an ironmongers apprentice

 

 

39.  HENRY7 JEEVES (son of SARAH 6 LANE [26])was born 1842 andbaptised 13 Jul 1842 in Hitchin, Herts. He married MARY ELIZABETH CHILDS. She was born c. 1847 in Ramsey, Hants, England.

 

       Census: 1881, solicitors managing clerkof 2 Bedford Villas, Bedford Road, Hitchin

     

Children of HENRY JEEVES and MARY CHILDS are:

                i.   WILTON H.8 JEEVES, b. c. 1874, Hitchen, Herts,England.

               ii.   ETHEL M. JEEVES, b. c. 1875, Hitchen, Herts,England.

               iii.   CYRIL R. JEEVES, b. c. 1876, Hitchen, Herts,England.

               iv.   ARTHUR J. JEEVES, b. c. 1878, Hitchen, Herts,England.

                v.   MABEL A. JEEVES, b. c. 1880, Hitchen, Herts,England.

49.   vi.   GERALD CHILDS JEEVES, b. 1883, Hitchen, Herts, England.

 

 

40.  JANE7 HAYDON  (dau. ofof SAMUEL6 [27]) was born c. 1845 in New Mill End,Beds, and baptised 14 Sep 1845, East Hyde, Beds.  She married GEORGE PIGGOTT. He was born c. 1843 in Stopsley, Beds, England.

 

Census: 1881, of New Mill End Farm(370 acres)

     

Children of JANE HAYDON and GEORGE PIGGOTT are:

                i.   MARY I.8 PIGGOTT, b. c. 1878, New Mill End, Beds,England.

               ii.   FRANKLIN G. PIGGOTT, b. c. 1880, New Mill End, Beds,England.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 8

 

 

Duringthe time of the 8th generation of the Bates family the members whichthe reader will be particularly interested in were no longer connected withOffley, in any direct way.  Rather it isto Newport in South Wales and Plymouth in South Devon that the family was drawnand to where we must have our attention directed.  The period covering the eighth generation begins in 1874 with thebirth of Henry Wilberforce Bates, and ends in 1980 with the death of AgnesDorothy (nee Bates) Tozer.  Much isknown of this large and extraordinary generation, and this chapter followsclosely a previously written account by the author in 1992.

 

 

41.  GEORGE HENRY8 BATES (son of JOHN7 [30]) wasborn 1840 and baptised 06 Dec 1840, Kings Walden, Herts.  He married SARAH ?. 

 

George was a carpenter and Sarah wasa laundress

 

Children of GEORGE BATES and SARAH ? are:

                i.   ELLIS9 BATES,b. 1868, Codicote, Herts, England.

               ii.   GEORGE BATES,b. 1870, Codicote, Herts, England.

               iii.   FRANK BATES,b. 1874, Codicote, Herts, England.

               iv.   MARK BATES,b. 1877, Codicote, Herts, England.

 

 

42.  AMOS8 BATES (son of JOHN7 [30]) wasborn 1848 in Codecote, Herts, England, and died 1921 in Codecote, Herts,England.  He married SELINA ?. 

 

In 1891, according to the census ofthat year, Amos and his family were living at Codicote, near Hitchen in no. 93High Street.  He was a Hurdle maker

     

Children of AMOS BATES and SELINA ? are:

                i.   ARTHUR9 BATES,b. 1873, Codicote, Herts, England.  Occupation:Agricultural labourer

               ii.   HERBERT BATES,b. 1875, Codicote, Herts, England.  Occupation:Agricultural labourer

               iii.   ALBERT BATES,b. 1877, Codicote, Herts, England. Occupation: Agricultural labourer

               iv.   RUTH MAY BATES, b. 1880, Codicote, Herts, England.

                v.   FREDERICK BATES,b. 1882, Codicote, Herts, England.

               vi.   LILIAN BATES,b. 1884, Codicote, Herts, England.

              vii.   BENJAMIN BATES,b. 1886, Codicote, Herts, England.

             viii.   ALICE BATES,b. 1889, Codicote, Herts, England.

 

 

43.  EDNA8 COOK (dau. of MARY HANNAH7 LAKE [35]) She married AUBREY WEBB. 

     

Children of EDNA COOK and AUBREY WEBB are:

                i.   ZENA9 WEBB,b. 1932.

50.    ii.   ROSEMARY WEBB, b. 1944.

 

 

44.  HENRY WILBERFORCE8 BATES (son of HENRY GEORGE 7 [37]) wasborn 07 Jan 1874 in Newport, Monmouthshire, England, and died 1941 in Plymouth,Devon, during an operation for a fractured skull.  He married OLINDA ROSE WILLS 29 Apr 1901 in Plymouth, Devon,England.  She died Aug 1934.

 

Henry Wilberforce Bates was the author's grandfather's eldest brother.  He was always known as Harry.  He and his wife, Lily, had three children,all boys.  The eldest was Roy, thesecond, John who was always referred to as Jack, and the youngest, Gerald whodied in infancy.

 

Harry was the eldest surviving childof Henry George and Mary Bates.  At theage of 5 or 6 he moved, with the rest of the family, to Plymouth, and it wasthere that he went to school and grew up. He was 27 when he married, Olinda Rose Wills.  At that time he was a builder's assistant, she a draper'sassistant.  Throughout the years hiscareer prospered and in time he became a Director of a reputable firm ofbuilding contractors - Wakeham Bros. Ltd. of Friday Yard, Plymouth.

 

After marrying the couple lived atNo. 2 Thornton Avenue, Plymouth.  In1906 the family moved to 10 Egerton Crescent, Plymouth.  That remained their residence until 1925when they moved to 65 Mount Gould Road. According to the local Register of Electors, in 1935 Harry's sisterDorothy and brother Ernest were also living at 65 Mount Gould Road.  They both moved into the house at MountGould Road after the death of Harry's wife, Lily, in August 1934.

 

Harry died, aged 67, in 1941.  He died in hospital during an operation fora fractured skull.  He had been drivingaround one evening, during the Second World War - Plymouth suffered badly fromthe 'blitz' - at the time of an air-raid. He had volunteered to bring in any fitting cases of sufficient urgencyin his own car with the object of easing the strain on the overstretchedambulance service.  When he got home hecomplained of a bad headache.  Sent tohospital, it was discovered that he had experienced a fractured skull and dieda day or so later during an operation. The assumption was that he had been caught up in some of the air-raidactivity during the night.

     

Children of HENRY BATES and OLINDA WILLS are:

51.     i.   HENRY THOMASROY9 BATES, b. 1902, Plymouth, Devon, England;d. 14 Oct 1958.

52.    ii.   JOHN DAVID BATES, b. 01 Mar 1904, Plymouth, Devon,England.

        iii.   GERALD BATES, b. c. 1910, Plymouth, Devon,England; d. c. 1910, died an infant.

 

 

45. ARTHUR EDWIN8 BATES (son of HENRY GEORGE 7 [37]) wasborn 1878 in Newport, Monmouthshire, England, and died 23 Jun 1983 in HatchEnd, Middlesex, England.  He married HELEN COMBLY.  She was born c. 1883, and died23 Jun 1983.

 

Arthur Bateswas the great play mate of his brother, Wyndham when they were young.  By reputation he was a bit of atearaway.  On one occasion the pair ofthem set fire to the curtains at 7 Diamond Avenue.  He grew up to be the rebel of the family but he seems to havebeen viewed kindly by the rest of the family who had a soft spot for him.  He and his wife, Helen (nee Combly) had onedaughter, Betty.  She married butremained childless.  Arthur Edwin Batesdied at Hatch End, Middlesex.  His wifeHelen lived until she was 100 and died on 23 June 1983.  By profession Arthur was a draughtsman,working for many years for Kodak.

     

Child of ARTHUR BATES and HELEN COMBLY is:

         i.   ELIZABETH9 BATES, m. ? HINKS.

 

 

46.  GEORGE WYNDHAM8 BATES (son of HENRY GEORGE 7 [37]) was born 26 Apr 1879 in Plymouth,Devon, England, and died 1941 of a tumour in his spine in Purley, Surrey.  He married ROSA BATES MAY. She was born c. 1880, and died Jul 1972 in Bromley, Kent, England.

 

George Bateswas born at 4 Ensleigh Cottages, Plymouth. His great boyhood pal in the family was Arthur.  He served with the Royal Flying Corps. (RFC)in the first World War (joining in 1916). It is interesting to note that this organisation pre-dated the RAF.  Wyndham was attached to the BalloonSection.  Later he became a businessman,involved in importing furnishing fabrics from France, Germany, Holland andItaly.  He was also involved inantiques.  Like many in his family, andhis father before him, he was very active in the Church, being Treasurer andSidesman of his local congregation. 

 

George was a successful businessmanand a much-loved and devoted father.  Hetraded under the name of Harper and Bates. When he died, his nephew Stuart Bates, the son of Edward William Bates,bought the trade name and continued to trade in fabrics.

 

George suffered much for many yearsas a result of shrapnel in his back, a legacy of the part he had played inactive service in the First World War. He eventually died in 1941 of a tumour in his spine, at his home inRiddlesdown Avenue, Purley, Surrey.

    

Children of GEORGE BATES and ROSA MAY are:

53.     i.   DOREEN9 BATES, b. 1906; d. 20 Mar 1994.

        ii.   MARGARET ROSE BATES, b. 1910.

She did not marry and entered the medical profession,working as a psychiatric social worker. She also spent time working at Bromley Hospital, Kent, as a doctor,after retraining.  She still lives inSevenoaks, Kent.

 

 

47.  FRANK SPENCER8 BATES (son of HENRY GEORGE 7 [37]) was born 11 Jan 1881 in Plymouth,Devon, England and birth was registered 15 Feb 1881. He died 1965 in Fishponds,Bristol, England.  He married ALICE GERTRUDE CARTER 09 Aug 1910 in Plumstead, Herts, England, daughter of CHARLES CARTER and SARAH ANSELL. She was born 02 Apr 1885 in Plumstead, Herts, England and birth was registered04 May 1885, and died 1965 in Fishponds, Bristol, England.

 

Frank Spencer Bates - was born at 4 Ensleigh Cottages, Plymouth.  He was the 6th child of Henry George and Mary Spencer Bates andtheir 4th son.

 

Frank had a comfortablechildhood.  He was part of a large andever-growing family - he was the 6th of 13 surviving children and wasunderstandably expected to play his part in the smooth running of the Bateshousehold.  His father's career prosperedat this time so it is likely that none of the children experienced any form ofdeprivation.  His was an unexceptionalupbringing but it undoubtedly moulded his beliefs and outlook.  He was to become, like his father, a devoutmember of the Church of England, a firm believer in accepted customs, moralsand behaviour, and a committed family man.

 

After leaving school he went toLondon to work.  It was there that hemet his wife-to-be, Alice Gertrude Carter, the daughter of a Woolwich Arsenalengineer, Charles John Carter.  Thecouple were married in 1910, Frank being aged 29, his wife aged 25.  At this time she lived at home, 37 LlanoverRoad, Plumstead, and he lived in lodgings at 55A Moscow Road, Bayswater.  By this time he was a commercial travellerand after their marriage they went straight to Bristol to live at 13 OverndaleRoad, Downend, Fishponds, Bristol.  Theyrented the property for 7/6d a week; in 1912 they bought the house for £200.

 

By then, Frank was employed as theSouth West representative for an East London firm, H. Barnett and Co.  They made and sold string, rope, hessian andupholstery materials that went into the making of chairs and sofas.  His area covered South Wales as far west asLlanelli and north to include the valleys. As far as England was concerned, he covered Gloucester and Cheltenham,Worcester, Chippenham, Swindon, Bath, Bristol, all Somerset, North Devon as faras Barnstable and Bideford and South Devon as far as Exeter and Plymouth.  He travelled exclusively by train and hiswork often necessitated him spending much of the working week away fromhome.  He was always able to spendweekends at home.  He continued to workfor H. Barnett and Co. until he was 80, and I well remember him receiving asplendid, inscribed gold wrist watch to commemorate him having worked for thecompany for 50 years.

 

During the First World War he wascalled up into the army and spent 4 years in Mesopotamia - modern Iraq, duringwhich time he walked the length of the entire country.  He was a devout, church-going man who oncestated that had he been single he would have liked to undertake missionary workabroad after his experiences during the First World War.  His Christian faith was a very importantpart of his life, but, as the war ended in 1918, he was married with two youngsons so he knew missionary work was out of the question.  Consequently, he settled down and becamevery active instead in the life and work of his local church, All Saints,Fishponds.  He became a Sidesman andSuperintendent of the All Saints' Sunday School, a position he held for a greatnumber of years.  Apart from hisbrothers, Percy and Wyndham, he would have been the most spiritual of the Batesfamily of his generation.

 

In later life, Frank Spencer didquite a lot of local preaching in Methodist Chapels and led non-conformistBible classes as well as continuing his work within the Church of England.  He became very open to the fact that theChurch of England was not the only church. He was very devout and not a day went by without he and his wife readingthe Bible together and praying.

 

He was a kind and lovingfather.  His daughter, Mary, who wasresponsible for much of this short account of Frank Spencer Bates' life,recalls that she never remembered him losing his temper or sulking and notspeaking.  He was cheerful, good-naturedwith a mischievous sense of humour.  Theauthor, too, recalls these qualities, and remembers him as a very kindly,generous grandfather.  "I remember,also, being fascinated by the fact he was unable to straighten either of hislittle fingers.  I never knew whether hehad been born with these minor handicaps or whether they were the result ofsome injury".

 

His life, then, revolved around histhree main interests, his family, his work and the church.  He was also very fond of sport, watchingBristol Rugby Football team regularly at Horfield.  He was a keen gardener and maintained an allotment that for yearssupplied most of the family's vegetable needs. He was always willing to help others and "go the 2nd mile" todo so.

 

Alice Gertrude Bates (nee Carter), was born at 38 Llanover Road, Plumstead, Herts.  She was the 4th child of Charles John Carterand Sarah Carter (nee Ansell).  Charlesand Sarah had two boys and two girls. Herbert born 1871, Nellie Elizabeth born 1875, Edward born 1881 andAlice Gertrude born 1885.

 

When Alice was born her father wasaged 43 and her mother was aged 41. Charles John Carter was a machine tool maker - an engineer - at WoolwichArsenal and the couple had established a comfortable home for their fourchildren.  It was called 1 Romsey Villa,37 Llanover Road.  Sarah Carter hadoriginated from Michelmersh in Hampshire, near the large county town of Romsey.

 

In the early nineteen hundreds Alicemet her husband-to-be, Frank Spencer Bates and in 1910 they were married at AllSaints Church, Plumstead.  They set uphome in Bristol.  Shortly after Mary wasborn, Alice's father died (c.1921) leaving her mother, Sarah, living alone at37 Llanover Road.  For the next 6-7years, until her death in c.1928 Sarah was visited every weekend, alternativelyby Alice and her sister, Nellie Elizabeth Hoste (nee Carter) who by this timewas married and living in Wrexham. Sarah's favourite saying was, "Save a thing for 7 years and you'llalways find a use for it".  On herdeath, her home was found to be unbelievably cluttered and full of things shehad refused to throw out.

 

Alice's two brothers, Herbert andEdward, both died in their 20's or 30's of tuberculosis without having married.

 

Alice's daughter, Mary, relates aninteresting story that illustrates something of Alice's natures andcharacter.  "Benny Carter was bornto Nellie Carter (Alice's elder sister) before her (Nellie's) marriage to WillHoste.  My mother always said he was heradopted brother.  In a way he wasbecause Grandma Carter brought him up as one of the family - even though he wasNellie's child.  My mother never told methe truth until a few months before she died. Grandma Carter never forgave Nellie and cut her out of her Will.  So when she died my mother was left whatthere was to have - the two boys having both died by this time.  But my mother being the person she was, gaveher sister Nellie her share regardless as my mother would never hold anythingagainst her sister."

 

The author's own personalrecollection of Grandma Bates is a somewhat dour yet kindly person. " Wecertainly knew we had to behave ourselves whenever my sister and I stayed withour parents in 232 Overndale Road.  Inlater life, she suffered much from arthritis and diabetes, having to have dailyinsulin injections and these health problems undoubtedly affected heraffability.  However, despite herunwillingness to allow me to run riot in her home, I have very fond memories ofher, and she always made us very welcome. I recall, too, many holidays they spent with us on the farm atTreharrock and in Port Isaac.

 

Her home at 232 Overndale Road leftme with indelible memories; the smell of gas in the kitchen; the gas poker usedto light the fire every day in the living room; the bagatelle table I alwaysused to make straight for in the dining room; the wind-up toy frog, which wasalways kept out of reach in the glass cabinet in the drawing room, which I wasexpressly forbidden to play with unsupervised, and which I broke one Sundayafternoon.  Horror of horrors!  The two-piece telephone in the drawing roomon which Grandpa Bates used to talk business; the cupboard under the stairswhich acted as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War years...... andso one could go on."

 

The house in Overndale Road,originally known as No. 13, later as 232, remained the home of Frank and Alicefor over 50 years.

 

Alice and Frank spent the last yearsof their lives in sheltered accommodation and she died within a fortnight ofher husband, having been married for 55 years. She was 80.  The author's fathertravelled to Bristol, five years earlier, to celebrate with the rest of thefamily, his parent's Golden Wedding Anniversary.  Cousin Joyce Nicoll recalls....

 

"...Frank Spencer was a happyfamily man, very devout and he held family prayers and Bible readings everySunday.  Alice, his wife, was charming,hospitable and devout, she was also musical with a sweet singing voice."

 

Children of FRANK BATES and ALICE CARTER are:

54.     i.   JOHN SPENCER9 BATES, b. 09 Jul 1911, Bristol, England;d. 14 Feb 1950, Sudan.

55.    ii.   STANLEY WILBERFORCE BATES, b. 06 Apr 1915, Bristol, d. 04 Apr1991, Napa, California, USA.

56.   iii.   MARY KATHLEEN BATES, b. 14 Oct 1920.

 

 

48.  EDWARD WILLIAM8 BATES (son of HENRY GEORGE 7 [37]) was born Feb 1888 in Plymouth,Devon, and died 1952.  He married EDITH MAY WELLSPRING 19 Apr 1913 in Alverstoke, Southampton, England. 

 

Edward William Bates was always known as Teddy. After obtaining diplomas at the Plymouth City Guilds Institute heobtained a post as a clerk in the office of Wakeham Bros. where his eldestbrother, Harry, was a Director.  Hiswork as a builder's clerk kept him in Plymouth until his marriage to Edith MayWellspring.  The wedding took place atAlverstoke Parish Church, Alverstoke, in the County of Southampton.  He was subsequently posted, upon theoutbreak of the First World War to Gosport to do war work on contract.  It was there that the couple's only son,Stuart, was born in 1914.  Still on warwork, Teddy moved to Amesbury, then on to Dorchester.  His daughter, Joyce was born at Basingstoke in 1920; Heather, thecouple's second daughter was born at Reading. The family remained in Reading for 12 years until the firm he wasworking for went out of business.  Thenext move was to the Isle of Wight to work with relatives.  Soon after he obtained a post in Hertfordthat lasted 2 years.  The next move wasto Catford where his life was nearly ended by being blown down the officestaircase by a landmine.  This wasduring the Second World War.  Duringthis time he purchased 19 Pinewood Drive, Orpington.  His final job was at Swanley in Kent where he worked until hedied suddenly in 1952.

 

The family, therefore, because ofTeddy's employment, was forced to move about the country a good deal.  In spite of all this, he remained a devotedfather and husband, and he was a most contented man.  He loved his wife, children, books, garden and pipe.

 

His daughter, Joyce recalls, withaffection, that he often remembered as a child being made to wear a velvet suit with a lace collar to church onSundays.  His sister, Kitty, insisted onthis.

    

Children of EDWARD BATES and EDITH WELLSPRING are:

57.     i.   STUART JOSEPHSPENCER9 BATES, b. 07 Feb 1914, Gosport, Hants,England; d. 1983.

58.    ii.   DOROTHY JOYCE BATES, b. 1920, Basingstoke, hants,England.

        iii.   HEATHER BATES, b. 1927, Reading, Berks, England;d. 1991.

On leaving school she joined an insurance company,but left after World War II.  She had agreat desire to be a writer.  She gaineda diploma from an editing course but never succeeded in fulfilling herambition, though she did have a few stories published.  After a sad love affair, she never married,remaining at the family home at 19 Pinewood Drive, Orpington, all herlife.  She nursed her mother during herfinal illness, and during her own life-time she collected a large library ofwide-ranging subjects including Greek Mythology and also a vast number ofrecords.  She was very fond of music, aninterest shared with her sister, Joyce.

 

 

49.  GERALD CHILDS8 JEEVES (son of HENRY7 JEEVES [39]) wasborn 1883 in Hitchen, Herts, England. He married JESSIE STRIPLING. She was born c. 1888 in London, England.

     

Child of GERALD JEEVES and JESSIE STRIPLING is:

59.     i.   PETER HENRY9 JEEVES, b. 1919, Lowestoft, Suffolk,England.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 9

 

 

With such a large family - 13 out of 14 childrensurviving into mature adulthood - it might have been reasonable to expect thatthe progeny of Henry George and Mary Spencer Bates would have multiplied to anextent as to create a very large third generation of the family.  On the contrary; somewhat surprisingly onlyfive members of this part of the fourth generation of the Bates family marriedand produced offspring.  Whilst thislimited the extent of the third generation and the potential durability of thefamily line, it certainly made things a great deal easier for the author!  The five members of the fourth generation ofthe family to continue the family line were the following, with the ensuingresults.

 

HenryWilberforce Bates and Olinda Rose Wills who had Henry Thomas Roy, JohnDavid and Gerald.  Arthur Edwin Batesand Helen Combly who had Elizabeth. George Wyndham Bates and Rosa May who had Doreen andMargaret Rose.  Frank Spencer Bates andAlice Gertrude Carter who had John Spencer, Stanley Wilberforce and MaryKathleen. Edward William Bates and Edith May Wellspring who hadStuart Joseph Spencer, Dorothy Joyce and Heather.

 

These twelve members of the ninth generation of theBates family were born into a very different society than the one the previousgeneration had been born into.  Theeldest member of the generation, Henry Thomas Roy Bates, was born in 1902, theyoungest, Heather Bates was born in 1927. By the time this generation was beginning to fade, the twentieth centurywas nearing its end, and all the even more spectacular changes of the secondhalf of the century which the reader and author alike will be familiar with -for better or for worse - were witnessed by and helped to mould and influencethe ninth generation of the Bates family.

 

The staggering impact of the First and Second WorldWars, the technological changes which have accompanied the post-war years,space travel, the Cold War, nuclear power and technology, the communicationsrevolution, information technology and all the various socio-economic andpolitical ramifications of these events, have all served to alter out of allrecognition the sort of lives which recent generations of Bates' haveexperienced.  For the ninth generationof the Bates family these changes were witnessed at first hand.  They were shaped by them and in learning toformulate a response to them they displayed an adaptability to change whichwould have truly amazed earlier generations. In addition, the ninth generation were more disseminated both within therealm and abroad, a factor that further set this generation apart from earlierones.  No longer could the generationgap be easily bridged and inter-family ties be maintained by close physicalproximity.  The fragmentation of thewider family was such that identification of close family ties and loyaltybecame impossible.  It has only been therecent upsurge in interest in family history - some of the reasons for this areexamined in the final chapter - which has enabled the most recent generationsof the family to be brought together, if only in the somewhat artificial senseof an interest in genealogy and the communication of the results of theresearches involved in this to members of the family.

 

However, despite these observations, the ninthgeneration of the Bates family provides us with some of the most fascinatinglives which research into the Bates line has revealed. 

 

 

50.        ROSEMARY10 WEBB (dau. of EDNA9 COOK [43]) wasborn 1944.  She married MICK DAY. 

     

Children of ROSEMARY WEBB and MICK DAY are:

                i.   KATE11 DAY.

60.    ii.   JOHN DAY.

 

 

51.  HENRY THOMAS ROY9 BATES (son of HENRY WILBERFORCE8 [44]) was born 1902 in Plymouth, Devon,England, and died 14 Oct 1958.  Hemarried KATHLEEN WILMOT 1930 in Plymouth, Devon, England. She was born c. 1903, and died 14 Dec 1994.

 

Known as Roy, he was born in 1902 and in 1930 married Kathleen Wilmot.  The couple had three children, all boys,called Anthony, Roger and Martin.  Royhad a very successful career in local government in the UK.  He eventually became Chief Accountant forthe Ministry of Town and Country Planning. He died, suddenly, in 1958 only a few months after his final promotion.

 

Roy did very well at school andafter matriculating he went first to Plymouth Technical College and then got ascholarship to the Royal College of Science in London.  He graduated with a B.Sc. having specialisedin agricultural science.  His intentionthen was to try for a post in the Sudan but this was at a time when returnedservicemen from World War I were given preference in such appointments.  So, as time was going on and money runningout he sat successfully for a Civil Service examination and was appointedAssistant District Auditor in whatever Ministry at that time looked after LocalGovernment in the U.K.  In 1958, only afew months before his death on 14 October, he reached the top of his Departmentand became Chief Auditor.

    

Children of HENRY BATES and KATHLEEN WILMOT are:

                i.   HENRY GERALD ANTHONY10 BATES, b. 20 Jun 1932.

Now retired and living in Bere Regis, Dorset, Anthony is a former consultantmetallurgist.  He graduated in 1954 witha BSc. Degree in Metallurgy from the University of Wales.

 AfterNational Service he started his career in Leicester, then in the mid-sixtiesspent 4 years working in Australia.  Hereturned in 1970 to a job concerned with nuclear power development in Dorset(Winfrith Technology Centre).  When theproject finished in the late 70's he returned to working as a consultant,giving advice to companies and engineers concerning the strength of metals indesign and cause of failures - working with a small company in Poole.

 Amongst hiskeenest interests is wildlife conservation and he is Chairman of the DorsetTrust for Nature Conservation.  Hismother, with whom he lived, died on 14 December 1994 in her 91st year.

               ii.   ROGER BATES,b. 20 Feb 1938.

Roger Bates was born on 20 February 1938, the secondof 3 sons born to Roy and Kathleen Bates.  He joined the RAF, trained at Cranwell and he took an Aeronauticaldegree from Cambridge and eventually reached the position of WingCommander.  He left the RAF in 1978.  In 1985 he branched out to become a SeniorExecutive with British Aerospace, stationed in Saudi Arabia.  His team give advice to the Saudis on theirdefence systems.  He was out thereduring the Gulf War and tells interesting tales about 'Scud' missiles.  He is also not married, has a house in BereRegis and manages to get back on leave for a few days every 4 months.

61.   iii.   MARTIN BATES, b. 05 May 1939.

 

 

52.  JOHN DAVID9 BATES (son of HENRY WILBERFORCE8 [44]) was born 01 Mar 1904 in Plymouth, Devon, England.  He married PHYLLIS HELEN MULLER 23 Jun 1930 in Sydney, Australia,daughter of Oscar RudolphPercy Muller of Sydney, Australia.

 

John (Jack) David Bates, became in his life time the most celebrated member of theBates family in modern times.  John, whowas always known as Jack, was born on 01 March 1904.

 

He was educated at Plymouth GrammarSchool and on leaving he got a job working for Thomas Cook in Plymouth.  Through this connection he obtained aposition with the Orient Shipping Line. He travelled extensively in this capacity and eventually settled inMelbourne, Australia where he continued to work for the Oriental SteamNavigation Company.  In 1930 he marriedPhyllis, the daughter of a Sydney doctor, Oscar Rudolph Percy Muller.  They had one child, David Michael JohnBates, born on 19 August 1932.  In 1932Jack joined the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserves and was called up whenwar broke out.  He spent a considerableperiod up to 1943 posted in England.  InMay of that year he was recalled to Australia and spent the rest of the warhelping to run an organisation called the Far Eastern Liaison Office, operatingin New Guinea, on jobs similar to Special Operations in Europe.

 

After the war, he returned to workfor the Orient Line.  In 1952 he wasposted to the USA to launch a new passenger ship service between Sydney and SanFrancisco and in 1954 he was appointed the General Manager of the Orient Linein Australia.  He retired from thecompany in 1963.  His considerableinvolvement in public life led to the award of a CBE in 1962 and in 1969 aKnighthood was bestowed on him.  Companyand public commitments resulted in a life of much travel. 

 

Sir Jack and Phyllis spent theirretirement in Cherrybrook, New South Wales until their deaths in 1992 and 1991respectively.  Phyllis Bates died inJuly 1991 aged 87 and Sir Jack died the following March aged 88.

 

Sir Jack Bates' entry in theAustralian Who's Who makes interesting reading and indicates the extent of hisinvolvement in public life in Australia. The culmination of his life of public service was his appointment in1970 as Australian Consul-General in New York. He relinquished his post in July 1973.

 

In 1976 and 1977 Sir Jack Bateswrote two letters to a cousin, Mrs Liz Longhurst, which does far more thananything the author could achieve to illuminate his life and achievements. Theauthor is indebted to her for providing him with photocopies of these lettersand also for furnishing him with other details of our family.

 

4/22Etham Avenue

                                               Darling Point

                                                                     NSW 2027

                                                               30th January 1976

 

Dear Mrs Longhurst, (or perhapsyou'll allow me to call you Cousin Liz in view of my relationship to yourhusband).

 

I am decidedly interested in yourinvestigations.  Amongst other reasons Ihave long intended to do something of the sort myself.  Whilst I was waiting for the grant of armswhich I applied for after being Knighted, to be approved, the College of Armssuggested they would like to record in their pedigree register a short pedigreeof my family from my grandparents to my grandchildren.  This cropped up during my terms of office inNew York and I didn't get around to furnishing the details they wanted at thetime.  Subsequently I got them from myAunt Dorothy, my Father's youngest sister and the only surviving child of the fourteenborn to Mary Spencer Longhurst - my paternal grandmother.  In case they may be of interest I shallattach a copy of the details required by the College of Arms.

 

In response to your request forreminiscences of my early life in Plymouth, let me first say that I recall myFather speaking frequently during that time of his cousin, Harry Longhurst whohe said was a great rifle shot - well known at Bisley and all that!  I take it he would have been your husband'sFather?

 

As you have no doubt discovered fromWho's Who, I was born on March 1st 1904, the second son of Henry WilberforceBates and Olinda Rose Wills.  My Fatherwas the eldest child of the fourteen mentioned in your chart as the progeny ofMary Longhurst and Henry George Bates.

 

I had an elder brother - HenryThomas Roy and a younger brother Gerald who died in infancy, probably around1910 or perhaps earlier.  Roy was a veryresponsible person and as I was his junior by two years, he took a close interestin my progress and welfare.  When wewere both at the local council primary school together he not infrequentlyintervened to stop me getting into fights and he tried, without much success,to make me take my school work more seriously. We were a happy family in my recollection, despite very little money andfrom 1914 to 1918 severe war shortages which my mother overcame with splendidculinary improvisations.  We boys helpedmy Father grow magnificent vegetables on one of the allotments allocated for thepurpose by the local Council.  Howevermuch our elders worried about those tragic days, we - as I recollect - had alot of fun.

 

I still remember with a sense of awethe prodigious Christmas dinners the family consumed.  My Father, as the eldest, invited as a matter of course such ofhis brothers and sisters still living with their parents near us in Plymouth,to come for mid-day Christmas dinner. To this assemblage, which of course included my Bates Grandparents,there also came my Mother's parents and often her brother and his wife.  So there were usually fourteen or fifteenfor dinner on Christmas day.  I know wealways had an improvised "junior table".  Whilst not missing out on our own share of the turkey and chickenand ham which always seemed to be there, we kids used to watch with awe ourelders' intake.  The washing upafterwards was tackled by the womenfolk and my brother and I were pressed intoservice if we were stupid enough to stick around.  The men snoozed.  Thenabout 5 pm. a breeze seemed to blow through the house and we all put our coatson and solemnly walked in procession to my grandparents' for supper where thewhole thing happened again.  This timethe feast was a cold one.

 

Roy did very well at school andafter matriculating he went first to Plymouth Technical College and then got ascholarship to the Royal College of Science in London.  He graduated with a B.Sc. having specialisedin agricultural science.  His intentionthen was to try for a post in the Sudan but this was at a time when returnedservicemen from World War I were given preference in such appointments.  So, as time was going on and money runningout he sat successfully for a Civil Service examination and was appointedAssistant District Auditor in whatever Ministry at that time looked after LocalGovernment in the U.K.  In 1958, only afew months before his death on 14th October, he reached the top of hisDepartment and became Chief Auditor.

 

I myself, I'm sorry to say, wasnever academically inclined and when in 1920 the local Great Western Railwaymanager came to school looking for a junior clerk I was put forward andaccepted.  I had recently passed theSenior Oxford exam. But failed to matriculate. I lasted about a year with the Railway at Devonport Goods Station.  It was a dull and boring job and even then Ihad an urge to travel.  So I applied forand got a job with Thos. Cook and Son, tourist agents.  I worked in the Plymouth Office for a yearor so and was then transferred to Head Office in London.  This, I felt, was in the right direction andI was given some Continental experience which assuaged some of my travelfever.  But in 1925 I felt I wanted toenjoy travel myself rather than to go on selling it.

 

So I applied to the Cunard Line andsimultaneously to the Orient Line for appointment as an Assistant Purser.

 

Cunard, (despite - or rather becausetheir current Chairman was Sir Percy Bates), ignored my application.  Orient - according to their delightfulreply, which I still have amongst my records, said the qualifications for theposition were:-

Good education and address

Good parentage

Efficiency in typewriting

They went on that if I consideredthat I conformed to these requirements I was at liberty to call on theundersigned.....

 

So I became an A.P. and sailed fromTilbury in November 1925 in ORAMA.  Thenext few years were spent on the mail run between the U.K. and Australia.  On one voyage I met Phyllis Helen Muller andher family.  We became engaged in 1928and a life at sea declined dramatically in attraction.  I had always enjoyed what little I had seenof Australia so I had the bright idea of bearding the then General Manager ofthe Company and asking for a shore job in Australia.  He was non-commital, but to my surprise on my return to London Iwas sent for by the Board and told that if I wanted it a shore job with theCompany in Australia was there for me. That was in December 1928 and I signed on articles in the next sailingfor passage to Sydney.  On 13 January1929 I signed off OSTERLEY and began work in the passenger department of OrientLine, Sydney.  We were married on 23June 1930 and Phyl returned with me to Brisbane where by then I was working.Twenty five years later I succeeded Lieut.General Sir Leslie Morshead (aCitizen soldier of Tobruk fame), as General Manager in Australia of OrientLine.  When we integrated fully with P.& O. in 1960 I became Deputy Chairman of the newly formed AustralianCompany.  I retired in 1967.  I had joined the R.A.N.V.R. in 1932 andserved throughout World War II in that service.  In 1962 I was given a C.B.E. for services to the Community.  This mainly referred to my work in bringingtogether as Federal President the six State Branches of the Navy League, (ofUK) and creating the present Navy League of Australia; and my services asChairman from 1956-1967 of the Honorary Board of the Australian National TravelAssociation which from 1926 to 1967 carried out similar work for Australia asdid the British Travel Association for the U.K.  When the Government decided in 1967 to undertake fullresponsibility for officially publicising Australia in overseas countries, thepresent Australian Tourist Commission was formed as a Statutory Authority and Iagreed to act as Chairman for the first two formative years. In 1969 I retiredfor the second time from the Travel Industry and I was Knighted in the Queen'sBirthday Honours that year.

 

A year later the Government calledme up and invited me to go to New York as Australian Consul-General there forthree years.  This wasn't an easydecision to make at our age and Phyl and I did a lot of heart searching beforeconcluding that we couldn't bear to turn down such a stimulatingopportunity.  We went in August1970.  We worked as hard as we had everdone throughout our married life; we travelled through the twenty-one States inmy area of Consular responsibility; and now we can honestly say we wouldn'thave missed it for worlds.

 

Our son David Michael John was bornin Brisbane on 19 August 1932. Regrettably we had no other children but David has done better.  He married on 27 September 1958, Enid BettyHope-Johnstone whose family settled in Tasmania about the middle of the 19thCentury.  She was born on 9 December1930.  They have three sons - NicholasDavid, born 17 July 1959; Timothy John born 5 June 1962 and Andrew born 21 July1965.  David and his family live nearHobart in Tasmania where he is the State Manager of an Engineering firm thatmanufactures and distributes heavy earth moving and other similar equipment.

 

Returning to my brother, he hadthree sons too.  The eldest, Antony(Henry Gerald Antony), born 20 June 1932 is of course now head of ourfamily.  His two brothers, Martin andRoger were born at, I think, two year intervals thereafter.  Antony is a metallurgist and he graduated atthe University of Wales.  He isunmarried.  Martin is a languageman.  He graduated at Pembroke College,Oxford and has been teaching English in many countries as diverse as Argentina,Turkey and Iran.  He was recentlycommissioned by Longmans the publishers to write a book on modern methods ofteaching English - especially to the Arabs. At the end of last year he was in Saudi Arabia getting the Saudisorganised to learn English.  Martinmarried some four years ago.  Rogerentered the R.A.F. College at Cranwell and whilst graduating he took anaeronautical engineering degree at Cambridge. He is a permanent service R.A.F. officer and was recently promoted WingCommander.  So, as you see, they haveall done pretty well.

 

I'm glad you were in touch withStuart Bates.  He is really at themoment the focal point of the family in England - my nephews being rather tooitinerant to act as a firm base.

 

I hope this rather ramblingdiscourse has given you some help towards your Object  1 - to discover the descendants of Ebenezer and MaryLonghurst.  I am afraid I cannot offermuch help towards discovering the direct ancestors of those two.  I have some notes my Father left but onlyconcerning the Bates side of the family.

 

I am afraid much of this may berather wide of your particular objective - but you asked for it!  When you ask an old boy to reminisce - thisis what happens so be warned!

 

I must say I have enjoyed theserecollections - it helps to get us all in a better perspective.

 

You will have noted that we havechanged our address.  Wahroonga is whatwe call a North Shore suburb and we found it rather too far for conveniencefrom Sydney and the Eastern Suburbs where we spent many years of our time inSydney.

 

Again, thank you for your interestand for writing so fully.  My apologiesfor typing this reply but you would have had some difficulty in deciphering mywriting.

 

With all good wishes  

Yours,   

John Bates

 

 

18,Southern Cross Gardens

                                                                                 2Spruson Street

                                                       NEUTRAL BAY

                                                       NSW 2089

                                                       27th August 1977

 

Dear Cousin Liz,

 

I am astonished and ashamed to findit is more than 12 months since I received your letter.  I apologise for the delay in sending thisacknowledgement.  I blame it on severalevents but one in particular.  Mydifficulty with stairs was accentuated when I had my other hip done last yearso we decided to try and sell our Unit (flat) at Darling Point and look foranother.  We found this place after afive month search and moved over to this side of the Harbour late in May.  The big advantage is that here the garageand front door are on the same level and only yards apart.  So, no stairs to negotiate.

 

You asked me to write more reminiscences.  Well, you asked for it, as some of our T.V.programmes say.

 

A number of events stand out clearlyon the rather muddled canvas of my youthful recollections.  When I was about 6 King Edward VII died andI remember vividly being awakened by my Father and told of this in such asolemn tone that I was filled with awe and no doubt thereupon became amonarchist.  The coronation of George Vwhich followed gave rise to my first public appearance.  I was selected with another boy to raise theUnion Jack in the school grounds on Coronation Day with parents and teachersall about.  The reason for my selectionwas undoubtedly because my fond parents (due to the influence of my NavalGrandfather), had a habit of dressing me at that time in a sailor suit, a practiceto which I soon afterwards took strong exception.

 

With my mind still on maritimeaffairs, one of my happiest recollections was sailing with Grandfather TomWills.  He had retired and possessed asmall open boat, about a 20 footer I suppose. She was yawl rigged so the mizzen mast was stepped abaft the rudderpost.  My grandmother - not anenthusiastic sailor - always declined to sail unless the mizzen sail wasraised.  She said it steadied theboat.  So the sail was thereafter calledthe Sara-Ann sail after Grandmother Sara-Ann. I still experience in retrospect on warm summer days the joy of leaningover the gunwale of that small boat and trailing my fingers in the waters ofPlymouth Sound with the boat heeling over in the strong breeze.

 

I told you of our traditionalChristmas dinners.  Easter too hasgastronomical echoes which tend even today to make me drool.  I can smell the rich ripe scent of freshlybaked hot cross buns which my brother and I were required to fetch on our bikeson Good Friday mornings from the Plympton bakery - about 2 miles out ofPlymouth.  We always made good timecoming home.

 

Dartmoor has always drawn me since Iwas a very small boy.  For years oursummer holiday was spent on some farm at one of the many spots on the edge ofDartmoor.  I recall holidays atYelverton, Dousland, Meavy, Horrabridge (where I saw my first chicken beheaded- and ran into the midden in my distress). Further north I remember staying at Marytavy, Petertavy, Lydford andBridestowe.  From these lovely places wewalked Dartmoor, scrambling up the Tors, avoiding bogs or not according to theweather, eating hugely among the bracken and the wortleberries.  When I was approaching my teens our walkstook on a firm objective - a Tor or a river source, a Kistvaen, a tumulus or AHUT CIRCLE.  Especially, Cranmere Poolwas an adventure always.  Cranmere isthe centre point of Dartmoor where the Dart, the Teign, the Tavy, the East andWest Okement and the Taw all have their beginnings.  At Cranmere there was, (?is), a post box which you were expectedto clear and post on your return to civilised places; and of course you wouldleave your own postcards for the next venturer to clear and re-post.  Once we addressed a card to ourselves andreceived it three months later with a Rumanian stamp on it.

 

Dartmoor brings to mind a splendidpaper chase in which I took part at the age of about 12.  I was one of the hares.  We set a course up the valley of the Plym toPlymbridge, then along the path by the Lee moor tramway to the China Clay worksat Fernhill on the Tory brook.  Fromthere we struck across Shaugh Moor to Shaugh Prior by which time we were stillahead of the hounds but had about had it. So we waited in the sun, cooling our feet in the shallows of the Plymuntil the hounds arrived.  So far wemust have run at least 9 miles so we all went on resting until the sun droppedand the shadows covered the ground. From Shaugh we moved back to Bickleigh and wearily took the road acrossBickleigh Down to Roborough on the main road into Plymouth.  It was by this time dark and starry and wewere tired so we thumbed a ride on a cart which came along.  The driversaid we could go with him as far as Mutley Plain where we could disperse to ourseveral homes.  On climbing aboard wemade a belated discovery that we had company in the shape of three or fourlarge fat pigs.  My parents were worriedenough by this time to be sending out search parties and the stink of theprodigal son's arrival home must have been terrific; but I have no recollectionof punishment - only of steak and kidney pie and bed.

 

I'm afraid I must be boring you withthese rather senile reminiscences but, as I said earlier, you asked forit. 

 

To conclude on a rather more maturerecollection.  My father took us onenight in 1919 to the Guildhall Square to hear the declaration of the poll atwhich Lady Astor became the first woman MP. Thirtynine years later on March 20th 1958 my wife and I met the formerlytalkative member in the Captain's cabin on board "Queen Elizabeth"out of New York for Southampton.  LadyAstor was not particularly interested in the fact that I had been one of somethousands who cheered her in 1919 or that Father had been a strong supporter.

 

I must say your daily programmesounds more than filled with Quaker meetings, conservation matters, Playgroupand music not to mention normal 'home duties' and husband Bill.  Tell him I understand his position!

 

I do hope I haven't bored you toomuch - I always find it fun to think back and recall the nice things I havebeen lucky enough to experience.

 

With all good wishes

Yours, John Bates

 

 

WHO'S WHO IN AUSTRALIA 1988

BATES, Sir John David, Kt.cr.1969,C.B.E. 1962, V.R.D.; Former Consul-General of Australia in New York; son ofH.W. Bates; b. Mar 1, 1904; ed. Plymouth Grammar School; Dir. Perpetual TrusteeCo. 1967-79; Australia - Netherlands Holding Ltd. and Associated Cos. 1967-74;Chrmn. Australia Tourist Commission, 1967-69; Member Export Dev. Cl. 1962-67;Trustee Art Gallery NSW 1962-70; Dep. Chrm. P. and O. Orient Lines of AustraliaPty. Ltd. 1960-67; Chrmn. Hon. Bd. Aust-Nat. Travel Assn. 1956-67; Gen. Mgr. inAustralia Orient Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. 1954-60; Dep. Div. Far East LiaisonOffice (Propoganda Warfare) Brisb. Morotai, Borneo, 1943-45; Staff N.L.O. Lon.1940-43; Navy Office Melb. 1939-40; R.A.N.V.R. Cmdr. 1932; m. June 23, 1930,Phyllis, d. O.R.P. Muller, 1 s; recreations: walking, reading; club: Union(Syd); address: 23 The Lakes, 10 Kenburn Avenue, Cherrybrook, NSW 2120.

 

 

OBITUARY

Sir John Bates 1904-1992

The founding Chairman of theAustralian Tourist Commission and former Consul-General to New York, Sir JohnDavid Bates died on Saturday, aged 88.

Sir John, who was knighted for hisservices to tourism, started life as a clerk in the offices of Thomas CookTravel in his home town of Plymouth in England.

He escaped to sea at 21 and workedas a Purser for the Orient Shipping Line that brought him to Australia for thefirst time.

He met his wife Phyllis when shetravelled from Australia to England. They married in Sydney and Sir John rose to become the AustralianGeneral Manager for Orient and, following its merger with P and O, DeputyChairman of P&O Orient Lines of Australia.

After World War II, where he was onthe staff of the Naval Liaison and Far Eastern Liaison offices, he was creditedwith transforming P&O from a mainly passenger carrying operation into amajor cruise line.

Sir John was Chairman of theAustralian National Travel Association from 1956 to 1967.  In 1967 this voluntary organisation becamethe Australian Tourist Commission and Sir John became its first Chairman.  At a testimonial dinner in 1969 he washailed as the "father of tourism in Australia".

He was knighted in 1969 andappointed Consul-General to New York in 1970.

He is survived by his son, David,and three grandchildren.

 

      Child of JOHN BATES and PHYLLIS MULLER is:

62.     i.   DAVID MICHAELJOHN10 BATES, b. 19 Aug 1932, Brisbane,Queensland, Australia; d. 17 Jul 1999, Cherrybrook, NSW, Australia.

 

 

53.  DOREEN9 BATES (son of GEORGE WYNDHAM8 [46]) was born 1906,and died 20 Mar 1994.  She met WILLIAM EVANS.  He was born 17 Jul 1893, anddied 1974.

    

On April 17th 1996 the authorreceived a letter from Doreen's daughter, Margaret, which provided him withinformation about her, and her mother's life, and perhaps it is appropriate toquote at length from this letter.  Shewrote:

 

"My father's name was WilliamAlfred Evans.  He was born on 17 July1893 and died aged 81 in 1974....  Myparents were not married.  When mymother met my father when they were both working in the Inland Revenue myfather was already married.  Havingbecome very fond of each other and my father being unwilling to divorce hiswife because he felt sorry for her (they were childless), my mother decided tohave a child, though unmarried, and hoped my father would take an interest init even though he would not commit himself to leaving his wife.  In the event it turned out that the babywas, in fact, twins, undiagnosed until birth! After the turmoil of the war, when we were evacuated from London with ananny, and for part of the time, our maternal grandmother, Rosa, we settledinto a pattern of life in which our father - whom we called Bill, joined usevery other weekend with Rosa and Margot. We had a live-in nanny/housekeeper until we were about 9.  The period leading up to our birth andchildhood were all described in detail in a diary that Doreen kept from aboutthe age of 24 until she was about 80! We knew about this diary but she told us to wait to read it until aftershe died, and it makes a very special sort of legacy because it brings her backso vividly.  My father and she weredevoted to each other and that was the strength that underpinned what wasotherwise a very unorthodox childhood for myself and my brother, Andrew.  Of course, there were great difficulties forDoreen in being a single mother in those days, but Bill's deep involvement inand affection for us and tremendous support from Margot, helped.  Rosa, too, played an important part in ourlives.  However, we were neverintroduced to any of my father's family and remained unknown about by themuntil he died.  After that I met acousin and he wrote a letter to me with quite a lot of information about hisside of the family, and my father has a sister, Elsie, whom my mother knewquite well and who is still living in Sevenoaks, near Margot.  We have met her several times since myfather died.  On only a couple ofoccasions I met my father's wife, Kathleen, a ballet teacher.  I think she took some interest in us from adistance and she used to send me red ballet shoes on my birthday which I wastold were from an Aunt!"

 

Doreen's actions and life as aworking, unmarried mother would, ironically, raise few eyebrows now though nodoubt at the time her actions must have necessitated a great deal of courage,flying as they did in the face of custom and contemporary morality.   Perhaps Doreen's other great legacy, asidefrom her diary, was being in the vanguard of feminism, women's liberation andthe equality of the sexes.

 

Children of DOREEN BATES and WILLIAM EVANS are:

63.     i.   ANDREW10 EVANS, b.1941.

64.    ii.   MARGARET EVANS, b. 1941.

 

 

54.  JOHN SPENCER9 BATES (son of FRANK SPENCER 8 [47]) was born 09 Jul1911 in Bristol, England, and died 14 Feb 1950 in Sudan.  He married MARGARET ANNIE HARWOOD 10 Sep 1938, daughter of CHARLES HARWOOD and BEATRICE ROSE. She was born 09 Jun 1912, and died 13 Dec 1972.

 

The following account was related to the author by my AuntieMary, John's sister.

"John was educated at StapleHill Council School until he was 11 when he won a scholarship to Colston Boys'Boarding School, Stapleton, Bristol. Even though we lived so near he still went there as a boarder.  He was 9 years and 4 months older than me somy earliest recollections of him were when I was a little girl of 5.  He had longer school holidays than I did atManor Road Infants School, Fishponds, and to me he was my BIG brother and Iworshipped him.  He used to come in hisholidays on his bike and meet me from school. I remember riding on the cross-bar of his bike - no such laws thenagainst it.  John was a model son toMother and Dad.  At home he was neat andtidy, quiet, gentle and thoughtful. Sunday mornings he would get up and put the kettle on, always made hisown bed etc.  Whatever he did, he didwell.  He excelled at school and didwell.  He learnt the piano and became anexcellent pianist.  Among my earliestrecollections of him were listening to him on the piano.  When he was at home, he would spend hoursplaying Beethoven, Bach etc.  I can seehim now sitting at the piano in the middle room.  I used to creep in sometimes just so that I could be near him andwatch him.  Sunday was a real treatbecause the Colston boys were allowed out for a walk after dinner.  The rule was that they were not supposed tocross the river at Snuff Mills but he and his friend used to come home and Iremember eating my Sunday dinner and rushing upstairs and sitting in the backbedroom by the window watching for them coming across what was then the marketgardens!  When he reached the 6th formhe became a Prefect and so he refused then to break school rules.  He said he must set a good example.  He continued to do well and gained theHigher School Certificate - the equivalent of today's 'A' levels.

 

He then went on to BristolUniversity and whilst there he lived at home. Exactly when he became a Christian I don't know.  He had, while he was at school, a desire toknow God and to follow Him, so it could have been through the Inter-VarsityChristian Union that he came into a personal faith in the Lord as hisSaviour.  During his university careerhe spent several summers working on a farm in Norfolk.  He used to be a good cyclist and cycledthere from Bristol.  It was on one ofthese trips he stayed with Margaret and her parents in Reading.  They were friends of Mother and Dad.  So began his friendship with Margaret.  Also during his holidays he would spend someof his time helping the C.S.S.M. (Children's Special Service Mission).  They used to hold Easter house parties forschool children and beach missions in August. He was already beginning to feel a call to some form of full-timeChristian work.  After 4 years heobtained a B.Sc. degree.  I remember hewas good at maths and also botany. Exactly what he did for his degree I'm not too sure.  But after his degree he did a year'sresearch.  I remember him going to BreanDown at Weston-s-Mare looking for a Rock Rose, I think - a rare plant that onlygrew in two places in the country and Brean was one of them!  Then he decided to do a year and get histeaching diploma.  He could do this,still at Bristol University.  Afterobtaining his teaching diploma he went to Nottingham and for three years wasScience and Maths Master at Mundella Grammar School.  While he was there he and Margaret became engaged.  She was teaching by then - where I don'tknow.

 

After applying, successfully, to theChurch Missionary Society, they were married on 10th September 1938 and sailedsoon after for southern Sudan.  Theyshould have come home after 21/2 years but by then the war was on and they didnot get home until 1945 - I think it was. Paul was born on January 1, 1940, Jean on October 14, 1941 and Elizabethon January 28, 1944.  Paul and Jean wereborn in Abba in what was the Belgian Congo. Elizabeth was born at Nairobi in Kenya. During his first furlough, John did a term at theological college inOxford because he had decided to be ordained into the Church of Englandministry.  They returned to the Sudanleaving Paul at C.M.S. Boarding School in Surrey somewhere.  Two and half years later they returned toEngland for another furlough.  Duringthis time John did another term at Oxford at the theological college.  I think he was ordained as a full priest ofthe Church of England before he returned to the Sudan.  This time he returned there alone, intendingto stay for two years only and then return to England and become a vicar.  During this time Margaret had a flat inLeicester - top floor of a vicarage - and made a home for the childrenincluding Paul who had left the C.M.S. school. Sadly, during this time, John died of peritonitis - he had been away ayear - so Margaret decided to send all three children to boarding schoolthrough the clergy orphans' fund.  Paulwent to St Edmunds in Canterbury, Jean and Elizabeth to St Margaret, Bushey,Herts.  Margaret returned to teaching.

 

One other thing about John - helearnt the organ and was quite proficient. He also could sing and belonged to the Bristol Choral Society.  When he was at Nottingham he used to playthe organ at a big concert hall there for the school speech days!  Also during his time at university whileliving at home he was very active at All Saints Church, Fishponds.  He used to run a mid-week meeting forchildren and organise children's mission weeks."

 

The Bates children, of whom John wasthe eldest, are fondly remembered by their first cousin, Joyce - daughter ofEdward William Bates.  She writes....

"I spent some lovely holidayswith them all remembering especially John, their eldest son, when he was homefrom university.  He had a very livelyand bright personality and liked practical jokes.  He was an excellent piano and organ player and we played pianoduets."

    

Children of JOHN BATES and MARGARET HARWOOD are:

65.     i.   PAUL SPENCER10 BATES, b. 01 Jan 1940, Abba, BelgianCongo; d. 29 May 2006, Brussels, Belgium.

66.    ii.   JEAN BATES, b. 14 Oct 1941, Abba, BelgianCongo.

67.   iii.   ELIZABETH BATES, b. 28 Jan 1944, Nairobi, Kenya.

 

 

55.  STANLEY WILBERFORCE9 BATES (son of FRANK SPENCER 8 [47]) was born 06 Apr 1915 inBristol, England, and died 04 Apr 1991 in Napa, California, USA.  He married MARJORIE TATLOW 23 Mar 1940 in Bristol, England,daughter of THOMAS TATLOWand MABEL JONES.  She was born 30 Mar 1916 in Derby, England,and died 17 Nov 2004 in Napa, California, USA.

 

Stanley Wilberforce Bates, the author's father, was born, at home - 13 OverndaleRoad, Downend, Fishponds, Bristol, on 6 April, 1915 at 5.00am The family homebecame redesignated 232 Overndale Road, Fishponds, Bristol, as this part ofBristol expanded between the wars.  Hewas christened Stanley Wilberforce and he inherited his middle name from hisUncle Harry - his father's eldest brother. His birth was registered on 17 April 1915.  His mother and father were aged 31 and 34 respectively, whenStanley was born.  His father worked asa commercial traveller and his mother, as was usual at that time, was afull-time mother and housewife.

 

As a young boy, Stanley was taken tovisit his grandparents quite regularly. His paternal grandparents lived in Plymouth and his maternalgrandparents lived in London.  Agedabout 8, he went with his mother to the Wembley Exhibition and stayed with hisgrandmother.  It was during the schoolholidays and whilst there he caught measles! His mother visited his grandmother, Sarah Carter, at the family homeonce a fortnight after the death of his grandfather, Charles John Carter in1921.  So Stanley occasionally had theopportunity of going to London by train. The return excursion fare cost 6 shilling and 6 pence (6/6d) from TempleMeads to Paddington - 4/6d if a later train was taken!  On another occasion, in 1931, he visited hisUncle Percy in Leamington Spa.  He wasvicar of St. Mary's and whilst there, Stanley was taken to watch a rugby matchat Coventry.  Uncle Percy gave him 2/6dto buy breakfast on the train on the way home to Bristol.

 

The Bates' were a deeply religiousfamily, belonging to the Church of England in which Frank Spencer was both awarden and Sunday School teacher at All Saint's Church, Fishponds.  All the family, including Stanley, his elderbrother John and younger sister Mary, attended church.  This early religious influence was to playan important part in his later life.

 

By the time Stanley was born in1915, the family was beginning to establish itself economically andsocially.  Previously they had rentedtheir home for 7/6d a week.  In 1912 itwas purchased for £200.  It was atypical, spacious - if a little gloomy by modern standards - late Victoriansuburban terraced house with a small front garden and a large rear garden thatcontained enough space for a small lawn and a large vegetable plot.  A lane ran along the bottom of thegarden.  His early childhood was unremarkable,probably quite typical of the generation and full of normal boyhoodactivities.  His home provided him witha tight-knit, devout, middle-class, loving environment for him to grow up in.

 

At the age of 11, Stanley passed theentrance examination and began to attend a local grammar school, FairfieldGrammar School.  His sporting interests,especially cricket and rugby football developed at this stage.  He played both to a moderately highstandard, playing both for his school, and later on, at club level.  He did well, academically, at school aswell.  He achieved a high enoughstandard in his matriculation examination to go on to university, but thefamily could only afford to send the eldest son, John, to BristolUniversity.  So Stanley left school at16 and obtained a clerical position in the City of Bristol.

 

His social life flourished at thistime, centring as it did on his twin passions of rugby and cricket.  He met his future wife, Marjorie Tatlow, inDownend in 1932.  After a longfriendship that eventually flourished into courtship, the couple married on 23 March1940 at Christ Church, Downend, Bristol.

 

Throughout the duration of theSecond World War, Stanley served first in the Royal Navy and later in theMerchant Navy.  In consequence, hetravelled widely, to South America (Rio de Janeiro being one of his favouriteplaces), North America, Africa and parts of Asia.  For the duration of the war, Marjorie lived with her parents, andafter peace was declared and Stanley rejoined "civvy-street" Marjoriecontinued to live at 34 Croomes Hill, Downend while Stanley embarked on ayear's course at Woodbastwick Agricultural College in Norfolk.  On 18 July, 1945 their eldest child,Elizabeth Teresa was born, followed on 1 April 1947 by their second child,Peter John.  After qualifying fromagricultural college, he obtained a job on a farm at Broadhembury in SouthDevon.  Before long the family moved toTimsbury, near Andover in Hampshire, where Stanley worked as a herdsman helpingto look after a large herd of dairy cows on a farm which was part of a largecountry estate owned by Lord Newton.  In1952, the family moved again, this time to North Cornwall where Stanley becamethe Manager of a 240 acre dairy farm known as Treharrock Manor Farm.  Within 5 years, his life took another abruptturn as he and his wife acquired, first by renting, then by buying for £4,500,a small guest-house in nearby Port Isaac. Corestin Guest House was to becomeboth their home and their sole means of income for the next 25 years.  It was run as a Christian Guest House inline with a religious conversion both he and his wife experienced in 1956.

 

After a long, successful andimmensely rewarding period as hotelier and "mine host" between 1956and 1982, the business was sold in the spring of 1982 and the couple moved toNapa in California, USA.  Stanley andhis wife had spent several holidays there, out of season, staying with theirdaughter, Teresa and son-in-law Rich. Teresa had emigrated to California in1970. They settled in Napa to enjoy a long and happy retirement. The climate,the way of life and the warm friendships they made, especially in the church,all contributed to the couple's contentment. They worshipped at the Church of Marin and travelled 35 miles one-wayevery Sunday to services at the church. They travelled widely, revisiting Great Britain from time to time andwelcoming old and new friends to their new home.  Stanley, with his wife Marjorie, enjoyed keeping their garden themost colourful in the neighbourhood. They also enjoyed camping in the warm, Californian climate, with ClearLake in Northern California, Death Valley and Lake Mead being their favouriteplaces to visit.  They both becameinvolved in the social life of the community, volunteering, for example, todeliver meals for elderly people in the "Meals on WheelsProgram".  They narrowly missedbecoming victims of the San Francisco earthquake in 1989 and both appeared onBritish television describing their experiences of the earthquake at SanFrancisco airport.  In March 1990 thecouple celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary.  In early 1991 Stanley became ill and died in the Queen ValleyHospital, Napa on 4 April 1991.  He wastwo days short of his 76th birthday.

 

Children of STANLEY BATES and MARJORIE TATLOW are:

                i.   ELIZABETH TERESA10 BATES, b. 18 Jul 1945, Bristol, England;m. RICHARD CHARLES MATTA, 19 Aug 1972, Gardnerville, Nevada,USA.

Elizabeth's early childhood was spent betweenBroadhembury, South Devon, Timsbury, Hampshire and Pendoggett, NorthCornwall.  By 1959 the family had movedto nearby Port Isaac, from where Teresa continued to attend Sir James Smith'sGrammar School, Camelford.  She attendedschool there from 1956-1963.  Aftersitting her 'A' level examinations she worked for a year in Dingles, a largedepartment store in Plymouth.  Dingleshad taken over Pophams, the firm her Great Grandfather had been employed by for30 years in the previous century.  In1964 she went to Strathclyde University, Glasgow where she read English and Sociology.  She graduated in 1967 and went on to studyfor her post-graduate Diploma in Education at Cardiff University.  Afterwards she found teaching employment inLondon before emigrating to California in 1970.  She eventually settled in Napa, centre of a wine-growing areanorth of San Francisco, California, where she alternated between working in thesocial services department for Napa County and continuing her teaching careerwith the Napa Unified School District. In recent years she has returned to teaching, specialising in 'specialneeds' teaching.  On 19 August 1972, shemarried Richard Charles Matta at Gardnerville, Nevada.  His family origins are in Northern Italy andhe, too, is a teacher.  They have nochildren.

 They havetravelled widely, to the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico, Europe and throughoutthe USA including Hawaii and Alaska. Teresa's interest in conservation has led to a committed involvement inthe Sierra Club, a national organisation that dedicates itself to environmentalissues and conservation.  She has becomevery active in the local group of the Sierra Club, serving on the Board ofDirectors for ten years, three years of which she was Chair of the Group.  She also owns a Golden Retriever, Toby, towhom she had devoted many hours training and entering him in obediencetrials.  Like her brother, she enjoysrunning and has competed in marathons, half marathons and 10k runs.  Her other interests include photography,painting, reading, camping, backpacking and travelling.  In 1992 she was awarded a Masters Degree inSpecial Education.

68.    ii.   PETER JOHN BATES, b. 01 Apr 1947, Bristol, England.

 

 

56.  MARY KATHLEEN9 BATES (dau. of FRANK SPENCER 8 [47]) was born 14 Oct1920.  She married ARTHUR GILL Jun 1951. 

 

Mary Kathleen Bates, the third child of Frank and Alice Bates, was born on 14 October 1920in Bristol.  She was educated atFairfield Grammar School, starting at the time when her older brother, Stanley,was leaving.  She left school at 17, ayear later than usual because she failed her School Certificate examination andstayed on another year to re-sit it. The second time she was successful. Her own comments about her school career were as follows: "I wasnot the clever one in the family, I didn't like school so I did not work as hardas I probably could have done!"

 

At 17 she left school and went towork in a residential nursery called the Downend Baby Home - approximately amile from her home.  She lived in, andstayed in that post for 2 years, enjoying the work and obtaining herCertificate in Childcare at the end. Subsequently she went to the Leicester Royal Infirmary to train as anurse.  This was not like school!  She comments: "I loved it there.  I enjoyed my work, as a result I studiedhard as well.  Every exam I sat I passed!"

 

After 4 years she obtained her StateRegistration in 1945.  Then followed aperiod at Leeds Maternity Hospital for Part 1 Midwifery, which, in turn, wasfollowed by a second spell in Leicester for Part 2 Midwifery.  She then became a State CertifiedMidwife.  For a while she worked at theLeicester Royal Infirmary as a Staff Midwife before going, in January to workin Hackney, East London as a District Midwife. After a 2 year spell there, she moved to Wellingborough in September1949, again working as a District Midwife. In June 1951 she married Arthur Gill and within 6 months they had movedto Northampton.  In 1953 their firstchild, Ruth, was born, and then two years later, Peter, was born.

 

Her children occupied her life forseveral years and in 1960, for a period of about 5 years, Mary worked part-timeat what was the Church of England Moral Welfare Home for UnmarriedMothers.  She has not worked since.

 

Her main interest in life, apartfrom the family - she has 4 grandchildren - has been in Christian work.  She concluded her short account of her lifewith these words, "Like my father, my Christian Faith has been and stillis more than just going to Church on Sunday".

 

Children of MARY BATES and ARTHUR GILL are:

69.     i.   RUTH10 GILL, b. 1953, Northampton, England.

70.    ii.   PETER JOHN GILL, b. 14 Oct 1955, Northampton,England.

 

 

57.  STUART JOSEPH SPENCER9 BATES (son of EDWARD WILLIAM 8 [48]) was born 07 Feb1914 in Gosport, Hants, England, and died 1983.  He married (1) TINA ?.   He married (2) AMY PRINCE 1936. 

 

Stuart Joseph Spencer Bates was the eldest son of Edward William Bates and Edith MayBates (nee Wellspring).  He was born atSt Edward's Road, Gosport, Hampshire. He became a brilliant pianist, learning to play at the age of 7 andperformed at Reading Town Hall.  Hetrained as a draftsman, but as Art and Design was his greater interest, hejoined Heals of Tottenham Court Road where he became a fabric designer.  Later he designed fabrics for his ownbusiness.  He inherited the trade name,Harper and Bates, from his Uncle Wyndham.

    

Children of STUART BATES and AMY PRINCE are:

71.     i.   RODNEY STUART10 BATES, b. 1940.

72.    ii.   GILLIAN BATES, b. 1945.

 

 

58.  DOROTHY JOYCE9 BATES (dau. of EDWARD WILLIAM 8 [48]) was born 1920in Basingstoke, Hants, England.  Shemarried JOHN RICHARD NICHOLL 1946. 

 

After leaving school, where hergreat love was music, Dorothy JoyceBates became a switchboard operator, working in London, Orpington,Gravesend and Biggin Hill.  In 1946 shemarried John Richard Nicholl and for the next 8 years was employed as a SocialWorker.  She and John had four children.

 

Joyce and John Nicholl, now retired,live in Ilminster in Somerset and Joyce has added enormously to my knowledge ofthe Bates family.  She has also providedme with some marvellous photographs of past members of the Bates family, aswell as pictures of special significance taken in Plymouth.  This account of our family owes much toJoyce's enthusiasm for genealogy and her personal knowledge of recentgenerations of the Bates family.

    

Children of DOROTHY BATES and JOHN NICHOLL are:

         i.   RICHARD PHILIP10 NICHOLL, b. 24 Mar 1947; d. 06 Apr 1947,died an infant.

73.    ii.   JENNIFER ANN NICHOLL, b. 14 Feb 1949.

        iii.   MICHAEL CHARRINGTON NICHOLL, b. 14 Mar 1952.

Michael lives and works in North Wales.  He is a forestry worker, is unmarried -though lives with his partner - and enjoys the outdoor life.

               iv.   PETA NOELLE NICHOLL, b. 05 Dec 1959; m. PHILIP WAKEFIELD.

She is a teacher, being employed in a Sixth FormCollege in Manchester.  She is marriedto a teacher, Philip Wakefield.  Thecouple have no children.

 

 

59.    PETER HENRY9 JEEVES (son of GERALD CHILDS8 JEEVES [49]) was born1919 in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.  Hemarried AGNES MOLLIE WILLMOTT.  She was born c. 1925 inLowestoft, Suffolk.

     

      Child of PETER JEEVES and AGNES WILLMOTT is:

                i.   CAROLYN JENNIFER10 JEEVES, b. 1947, Lowestoft, Suffolk,England.

 

 

 

 

Generation No. 10

 

 

Without question, the seminal event that had thegreatest influence on those of the third generation of the Bates family was theSecond World War.  Many served in thearmed forces, all were affected by the drama of those years which led up to thegreatest conflict the world has yet to experience and none remained untouchedby the brutality, heroism and privations which were the hallmarks of those waryears.  Released in 1945 from theturmoil of war, the tenth generation of the Bates family, along with countlessmillions of other people who had been fortunate enough to survive the period1939-1945, turned its attention to the process of rebuilding and reshapinglives which had been dramatically altered as a consequence of war.  The fruits of that reconstruction wereharvested, in large extent, by the tenth generation, none of whom, apart fromsome who experienced the war as very small children, have any recollection ofhow shattering and demoralising the war had been.  The tenth generation then, are the children of the post-warworld, a world in which change has become a by-word in every aspect of life.  The scientific and technological revolutionhas been at the heart of these changes. This revolution has resulted in remarkable advances and changes intelecommunications, transport, the leisure industry, the work place,entertainment, medicine, sport, education, construction, energy, space travel,warfare....... even the weather.  Muchof the changes and advances have been widely recognised as being 'good things';however they have been accompanied by a remarkable decline in organisedreligions and spiritual activity and a growth of many social ills such ascrime, unemployment, drug-taking and a general decline in moral standards -whatever they are!  The social cohesionof the pre-1939 days appears to be a thing of the past and the adversarialnature of domestic politics have not produced the solutions so far to our manysocial and economic difficulties. Clearly the tenth generation of the Bates have been fashioned by theevents of the post-war years just as clearly as the previous generation was affectedby the war itself.

 

The tenth generation of the family consists of 21people of whom 19 are still alive.  Theeldest, Anthony Bates was born in June 1932, the youngest Andrew Tatlow, wasborn in 1957.

 

 

60.  JOHN10 DAY (son of ROSEMARY10 WEBB [50]) He married ALISON ?. 

     

Child of JOHN DAY and ALISON ? is:

                i.   THOMAS11 DAY., b: 1995

               ii.   KEIRON DAY,b. 2000.

 

 

61.  MARTIN10 BATES (son of HENRY THOMAS ROY9 [51]) was born 05 May 1939.  He married KATIE GREIG 1972.  She was born 08 Dec 1945.

 

Educated at Pembroke College,Oxford, graduating in English and History. Martin taught English toforeign students in the Middle East as well as in such diverse places asArgentina, Turkey and Iran.  Currentlyhe lives in Scotland and visits Egypt regularly as he is employed by theEgyptian Government, writing English language books.

 

The youngest of three brothers,Martin is a renowned Arabic linguist with well-known text books published onthe subject of teaching English to Arabs and Israelis. 

    

Children of MARTIN BATES and KATIE GREIG are:

                i.   ANNABEL11 BATES,b. 27 Feb 1978.

               ii.   MADALEINE BATES,b. 20 Oct 1982.

               iii.   ALEXANDER BATES,b. 01 Jan 1984.

 

 

62.  DAVID MICHAEL JOHN10 BATES (son of JOHN DAVID9 [52]) was born 19 Aug1932 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and died 17 Jul 1999 in Cherrybrook,NSW, Australia.  He married ENID BETTY HOPE-JOHNSTONE 27 Sep 1958 in Adelaide, South Australia.  She was born 09 Dec 1930, and died Jul 1991 in Cherrybrook, NSW, Australia.

 

Qualifying as an engineer, David pursued an engineering career inTasmania.  David died from a rare formof lung cancer.

 

In a letter written by Sir JackBates to the author's father (Stanley Bates) in September 1990, David's fatherwrote, "David has just recently retired and spends a lot of time on hissailing boat which always seems to need scraping or painting when he's notactually sailing or doing some job on the house which he designed and helped tobuild".

 

David was made redundant in1990.  He enjoyed a busy life keepinghis house and 5 acres of land in good order. When he and Enid sold his father's house they were able to buy a lovelyyacht with the money - a nice touch which his father as the ex-head of P&Oin Australia would have very much approved of. He and his wife and sons Nick and Andrew sailed around the Tasmanianislands a good deal.

    

Children of DAVID BATES and ENID HOPE-JOHNSTONE are:

                i.   NICHOLAS DAVID11 BATES, b. 17Jul 1959; m. KERRIE ?.

Nicholas' career has involved working withwildlife; he is particularly committed to the preservation of Antarcticwildlife.

               ii.   TIMOTHY JOHN BATES, b. 05 Jun 1962; m. LISE ?.

Tim works for the AustralianBroadcasting Company as a cameraman and has been responsible for severalprestigious programmes.  At present heis working for the corporation in Moscow. His wife, Lise, has accompanied him to Russia. 

               iii.   ANDREW BATES,b. 21 Jul 1965.

Andrew joined the Government MarineService and eventually became a policeman within that service.  Currently he is Officer-in-charge at aseaport on the south-east coast of Tasmania.

 

 

63.  ANDREW10 EVANS (son of DOREEN9 BATES [53]) was born1941.  He married SUE ?. 

 

After graduating from CambridgeUniversity with a degree in Mathematics Andrewmarried his wife, Sue, and emigrated to Australia where he became a UniversityLecturer, specialising in transport issues. His wife also taught at the university. Returning to Britain, Andrew Evans became Professor of 'Safety in PublicTransport' and joint head of the Mathematics Department of University Collegeand Imperial College, both of which are part of London University.  His wife lectures at Birkbeck College,London.

    

Children of ANDREW EVANS and SUE ? are:

                i.   ROSALIND11 EVANS,b. 1978.

               ii.   COLIN EVANS,b. 1981.

               iii.   WILLIAM EVANS,b. 1984.

 

 

64.      MARGARET10 EVANS (dau. of DOREEN9 BATES [53]) was born1941.  She married FRED ESIRI. He was born 1938.

 

She studied medicine at St Hughs,Oxford. She is presently employed on a part-time basis doing neurologicalresearch at Nuffield Hospital, Oxford and she has recently become aGrandmother.   Fred is Nigerian and adoctor.

     

Children of MARGARET EVANS and FRED ESIRI are:

74.     i.   HENRIETTA11 ESIRI, b. 1963.

               ii.   MARK ESIRI, b. 1967.

Mark studied law at London University and now workswith a friend in a business in London called Chalk and Cheese.  In effect he is in the community carebusiness, providing domestic services.

               iii.   FREDERICK ESIRI,b. 1967.

Frederick works for an American bank, Goldman Sachs,in the City of London.  During 1992 hespent a year working for the bank in the USA.

 

 

65.  PAUL SPENCER10 BATES (son of JOHN SPENCER9 [54]) was born 01 Jan1940 in Abba, Belgian Congo, and died 29 May 2006 in Brussels, Belgium.  He married (1) CHRISTINE DALBY.   He married (2) FREDA SPILLARD 04 Apr 1964 in Hemel Hempstead,Herts, England. 

 

Paul waseducated at Cambridge University, eventually becoming a priest in the Church ofEngland, as his father had done.  Aftera period serving first as a curate in Bristol and later as Canon at WinchesterCathedral, he was appointed in 1990 as one of four Canons at WestminsterAbbey.  He made regular radio broadcastson BBC Radio 4 'Thought for Today' at 7.50 am. He married Freda Spillard on 4 April 1964 at St Mary's Church, HemelHempstead and they subsequently had two children, both boys, Julian born in1966 and Jonathon, born in 1969.  In1994 Paul resigned from his post of Canon at Westminster Abbey and joined aLondon firm, the Alexander Corporation, based in Oxford Street.  At the same time he and his wife separatedand in 1995 they were divorced.  Bothcontinue to live and work in London, Freda having trained, despite ill-health,to become a London guide. Paul remarried in 2004. His new wife is the Danishborn Christine Dalby. They live in Brussels with Christine’s son, Jonathan.

 

Obituary

 

Paul Bates, who died on Monday aged66, was until 1994 one of the Church of England's outstanding priests.

 

At that time he was a relativelyyoung canon of Westminster Abbey, with a strong record behind him, and it wasconfidently expected that he would shortly become a bishop or possibly a dean.But when his marriage fell apart he resigned not only from his canonry but alsofrom the priesthood.

 

Bates had all the gifts that wouldhave made him a notable church leader. He was a fine preacher, a talentedteacher and an outstanding pastor. He won the admiration and allegiance ofcolleagues, knew how to get people of diverse temperaments to work together andwas brimming with creative ideas.

Added to this was considerableorganisational skill, a handsome appearance and an attractive personality,which made the loss to the Church all the more keenly felt.

 

Some of his skills and experiencewere, however, transferred easily to the secular sphere, and he made a no lesssuccessful, albeit shorter, second career in management consultancy.

 

Paul Spencer Bates, the son of amissionary priest, was born on January 1 1940 at a hospital in the BelgianCongo, his father at the time serving in adjacent southern Sudan. He went fromSt Edmund's School, Canterbury, to Corpus Christi, Cambridge, and completed histraining for Holy Orders at Lincoln Theological College, where his gifts weresoon recognised and a bright future in the Church's ministry forecast.

 

Ordained in 1965, he spent fiveyears as a curate at Hartcliffe, in Bristol, winning great praise for his workamong young people. He found the liberal atmosphere of the 1960s stimulating,and adopted an informality of dress and hair style not then common amongclergymen. This proved to be no handicap to his appointment in 1970 as chaplainat Winchester College. John Thorn, the then headmaster, was strong on unusualand imaginative appointments, and the choice of Bates was deemed to be anunqualified success. He could more than hold his own in the classroom, but hischief contribution was as a pastor to both the boys and the dons.

 

He had the gift of establishing aclose rapport with people of all ages, and the boys regarded his opinions asnear-infallible: "Paul says… " was considered by them to clinch anyargument. Whenever tragedy struck the school he was immediately there toprovide strong, sensitive support, often over long periods.

 

Just over the wall, however, a newBishop of Winchester, John V Taylor, was no less adept than the headmaster atspotting talent, and in 1980, to the great chagrin of the college, he persuadedBates to become his diocesan director of training. At this time thepost-ordination training of curates and the in-service education of vicars wasnothing if not haphazard, and often virtually non-existent.

 

Bates, who had much in common withBishop Taylor, was one of the first full-time directors of training to beappointed, and during the next 10 years he devised and implemented educationprogrammes for clergy at every stage of their ministries.

 

While academic study was availablefor those who wanted it, most of the courses were more directly related topractical parish work and came to be regarded by the overwhelming majority ofthe clergy as something to be enjoyed rather than endured.

 

Many of the methods were exported toother dioceses, and Bates, combining with a group of other talented youngpriests to provide the bishop with a think-tank, showed no less flair in hispromotion of new-style education schemes for young people and adult laity. Atthe national level he was closely involved in the work of the Grubb Institute,particularly with research on the effects of parochial stress on the lives ofclergy families. This was shown to be considerable.

 

He was appointed an honorary canonof Winchester Cathedral in 1987.

 

Following his resignation in 1994,Bates became a consultant with Alexander Corp, then moved to the American-basedconsultancy Sibson & Co. On reaching the age of 60 he became an independentmanagement consultant with an international clientele. He died suddenly soonafter returning from an assignment in the Far East.

 

While at Winchester he was a keensupporter of Hampshire Cricket Club and, from his Cambridge years, was adiscerning reader of modern novels. He is survived by his second wife,Christine, and by two sons of his first marriage.

    

Children of PAUL BATES and FREDA SPILLARD are:

                i.   JULIAN SPENCER11 BATES, b. 23Jul 1966, Bristol, England; m. SARAH ?, 10 Sep 2004.

               ii.   JONATHON WILLIAM BATES, b. 20 Oct 1969, Bristol, England;m. LEAH MELODY PERONA-WRIGHT, 11 Jun 2005.

 

 

66.  JEAN10 BATES (dau. of JOHN SPENCER9 [54]) was born 14 Oct1941 in Abba, Belgian Congo.  Shemarried ROBYN KIMBALL SMITH 22 Jul 1967. 

 

Jean Bateswas also born in Abba in the former Belgian Congo in 1941.  Educated in England, like both her sisterand brother, she married Robyn Smith on 22 July 1967.  The couple have 3 grown-up children, Michael, Clare andPatrick.  Jean works as a secretary atthe Veterinary Investigation Centre/Animal Health Office, which is part of theMinistry of Agriculture.  Having spentmuch of their married lives in Winchester, Jean and Robyn have recently movedto Romsey, Hampshire. Their two sons have decided to call themselves Kimball-Smith,using one of their father's fore-names alongside the family name Smith.

     

Children of JEAN BATES and ROBYN SMITH are:

75.     i.   MICHAEL11 SMITH, b.1968.

76.    ii.   PATRICK SMITH, b. 1970.

77.   iii.   CLARE SMITH, b. 1972.

 

 

67.  ELIZABETH10 BATES (dau. of JOHN SPENCER9 [54]) was born 28 Jan1944 in Nairobi, Kenya.  She married PETER CULF04 Sep 1965 in Leicester, England. 

 

Elizabeth Bates was educated in England and married Peter Culf in Leicester.  The couple have two grown-up daughters, Joand Suzie, and the family are keen churchgoers as well as very interested inmusic.  Liz does a lot of voluntarywork, with the aged and disadvantaged children. They presently live at EastBoldre in the New Forest.

 

Children of ELIZABETH BATES and PETER CULF are:

         i.   NICHOLAS JOHN11 CULF, b. 20 Mar 1969; d. 25 Jan 1970.

78.    ii.   JOANNA CULF, b. 1971.

79.   iii.   SUZANNE CULF, b. 1973.

 

 

68.  PETER JOHN10 BATES (son of STANLEY WILBERFORCE9 [55]) was born 01 Apr1947 in Bristol, England.  He married JANETTE LYNNE PRICE05 Apr 1969 in Gilwern, Monmouthshire, Wales, daughter of WILLIAM PRICE and THELMA WILLIAMS. She was born 02 Dec 1946 in Nantyglo, Monmouthshire, England.

 

Peterattended Sir James Smith's School, Camelford - like his sister - from1958-1965.  He entered CardiffUniversity in 1965 where he read History. In 1968 he graduated with a 2nd class Honours Degree and went on tostudy for a post- graduate Diploma in Education.  He met his wife, Janette Lynne Price in 1968 - they were bothfinal year graduates, and they were married on 5 April 1969.  After qualifying, they both taught in asuccession of secondary schools in South Devon and South Wales and by 1976 theyhad both become Heads of Departments. In 1981 he was awarded an M.Ed. from the University of Wales.  Their eldest son, Jeremy Mark Bates was bornin 1970, and their youngest son, Christopher Simon Bates was born in 1982.  They were both forced to give up theirteaching posts, Jan in 1982 and Peter in 1986, to concentrate on looking aftertheir son, Christopher.  His needs aresuch that it has taken two of them to cope with all that is involved.

 

Until recently Peter was on theboard of governors of the local special school that Christopher attends, havingserved in the capacity since 1988. For a good part of that time he was itsChairman. He is also involved with various charities and fund-raising, mostlyconnected with the handicapped child.  Akeen runner, he has competed in several marathons, including the 1988 LondonMarathon, and run many half-marathons. In 1998 he became a local communitycouncillor, and in April, 2001 was elected Chairman.

 

The couple moved to Crickhowell,Powys in 1995.

 

Janette Lynne Price's mother, Thelma Williams, was and still is, a local girl, an onlydaughter of a North Monmouthshire coal-miner. Janette's father, William Price, was one of 13 children whose parentskept a public house in Dukestown, Tredegar. He celebrated his 86th birthday on 27 February 1998.  Janette, attended Cardiff University between1964-1969, where she graduated with a second class Honours Degree in French andwent on to obtain a post-graduate Diploma in Education.  As part of her language studies, she livedand worked near Chamonix in France for a year. After 13 years in the teaching profession, she was forced to give up hercareer to look after her son, Christopher, in 1982.  Her last post was as Head of Modern Languages at OakdaleComprehensive School, Gwent.  Married toher husband, Peter, she enjoys travelling, reading, cooking, music and the theatre.  Sadly, nearly all of these pursuits havetaken something of a back seat as she has devoted almost all of the past 15years to looking after her son.  Thecouple moved to Crickhowell, Powys in 1995.

    

Children of PETER