Thomas BATES Circa 1770 - 1836

In January of the year 1788 as the First Fleet sailed into Port Jackson, Australia, a young man walked the streets on London looking for work. With a population of almost a million people, London was now the largest city in the world and was home to beggars, traders and royalty. The urban sprawl was made of up of communities along the Thames within reach of the open fields of Middlesex and Essex.

As the weeks went by Thomas’ boots began to wear out, and on 6 April upon seeing some boots on a counter in the lane he was walking through, he snatched a pair and ran off, but was pursued and indicted. A month later on 7 May 1788 Thomas was charged with stealing two (odd) men’s leather boots to the value of 10 shillings, the property of Edward Bell. His defence was that he had seen a boy go in and take the boots, he ran after him and picked them up when the boy dropped them. Thomas BATES, aged 15 years, was tried by a Middlesex Jury at the Old Bailey, the London Central Criminal Court before Mr Recorder, found guilty and sentenced to transportation to Port Jackson for seven years.

Thomas remained a year in Newgate Goal, next to the court until May 1789 when he was sent with a large group of London convicts to the Dunkirk hulk at Plymouth on the Devon Coast, about 310 kms south west of London. The Dunkirk was an old Fourth- rate ship built in Woolwich, London in 1754 and converted to a guard ship and moored at Plymouth in 1782. As the prison population grew during the 18th century the British government started to send convicts from Newgate and the county prisons to overseas penal colonies, firstly North America until the Revolutionary War stopped the British sending their convicts across the Atlantic. In 1786 the colony of New South Wales was proclaimed by King George III. In January 1787 the government decided to transport convicts to New South Wales and on 18 January 1788 the First Fleet arrived to set up a prison colony.

At the end of November 1789 Thomas was embarked on the 809 ton Second Fleet ship Neptune convict transport under Master Donald Triall and departed England on 19 January 1790 with the Surprize and Scarborough. These three ships were contracted from the slave trading firm , Camden, Clavert and King who undertook to transport clothe and feed the convicts for a flat fee of £17 7s.6d per head, whether they landed alive or not. They made only one stop on the way, at the cape of Good Hope, South Africa. The three vessels arrived at Sydney cove in the last week of June 1790, three weeks after Lady Juliana with 222 female convicts on board and one week after the storeship Justinian. The passage was relatively fast in comparison to the First Fleet, but the mortality rate was very high (26%). Of the 1,026 convicts embarked on the  Second Fleet 267 died during the voyage.The convicts on the Neptune were deliberately starved, kept in irons, were often refused access to the deck and had scurvy from poor food and lack of Vitamin C. On arrival the chaplain of the Colony, Reverend Richard Johnson described the terrible scene:

The landing of these people was truly affecting and shocking; great numbers were not able to walk, nor to move hand or foot. Upon their being brought up to the open air some fainted, some died on the deck, and others in the boat before they reached the shore. When come on shore many were not able to walk, to stand, or stir themselves in the least, hence some were led by others. Some creeped upon their hands and knees, and some were carried upon the backs of others.

On arrival half naked convicts were lying without bedding and too ill to move. All were covered in lice and those unable to walk were slung over the sides of the ship. At least 486 Second Fleet convicts, 47%, arrived sick and the remainder were described as lean and emaciated. The ill were treated in the makeshift hospital and the well were put to work in Sydney and Parramatta constructing roads, bridges and public buildings, farming to produce food, milling timber and manufacturing bricks. Thomas could have worked at any of these trades, honing his skills to become a soldier, carter, then a boat builder.

Thomas birthplace was recorded later in 1808 on his transfer from the 102nd Regiment as Harwich Suffolk. Harwich is an old maritime and shipbuilding area 70 miles (112km) north east of London, but is located in Essex, not Suffolk. Thomas was free by servitude in 1795, having completed two years in the hulks in England and then five years penal servitude in Sydney. Thomas obviously had a strong constitution to have survived the horrors of his transportation and long hours serving out the balance of his seven year sentence. The five years between 1785 and 1800 are unaccounted for, but he obviously made his living and had time to socialize and get to know his future bride, a soldier’s daughter named, Ann GRIFFIN.

By 1800 Sydney was becoming established and had 3,000 inhabitants. The first St Philips, a wattle and daub T shaped church that seated 500, was built in 1793 by the Chaplain of the Colony, Reverend Richard Johnson. It burnt down in 1798 and a new church was then built off York Street now Lang Park. The foundation of the sandstone church was laid in 1800 but was not completed until 1810.

Ann GRIFFIN, a soldiers daughter, married Thomas BATES on 12 May 1800 at St Philips Church of England, Sydney in a service conducted by the Reverend Richard Johnson. The witnesses were Harry PARSONS and Phebe WALTON. All parties signed the register with an X (meaning they could not read or write), with the exception of Harry PARSONS, a first fleet marine soldier from the Sirius. Harry transferred to the NSW Corps in 1792 and married seven year convict, Mary SWAIN in 1796.  Phebe was also a seven year convict sentenced in Gloucester in 1794, aged 22 years, and was transported on the Indispensible in 1796.

A few months after his marriage on 23 Aug 1800, encouraged by his friend Harry Parsons and his soldier father in law Michael, Thomas enlisted as a private in the NSW Corps, later renamed as the 102nd Regiment. Rarely more than 500 strong, they formed the garrison of the penal colony of New South Wales for almost twenty years. Their uniform was similar to that of the Marines, but with a yellow facing on the coat and different shoulder belt plate and buttons. A shako was worn on the head. It was a tall cylindrical military hat, made of stiff material, with a short visor and a plume at the front.

Thomas and Ann probably lived in the soldiers’ quarters in Back Row (Kent Street) when they first married. On 5 May 1805 the Sydney Gazette reported that Thomas Bates, a soldier in the NSW Corps received a severe wound to the neck from a falling branch when felling a tree near Cockle Bay, later renamed Darling Harbour. We do not know if this was his future grant he was clearing at the time or when the family home was constructed at Cockle Bay. Thomas and Ann raised their large family of eight children, five girls and three boys at their home in Bates Lane, off Sussex Street, Cockle Bay.

Lydia, their first child was born on 9 May 1806 and baptised at St Philips on 25 Dec 1806. The next year Thomas was transferred to York Town, near Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen’s Land, now known as Tasmania. York Town was first settled in 1804 and was originally chosen for its good water supply, but the hard clay soil proved unsuitable for agriculture. Thomas and Ann’s second daughter Maria (pronounced Mariah) was born there on 14 Dec 1808. After their return to Sydney in 1810 Maria was baptised at St Philips on 1 April.

In his absence on 17 July 1809 Thomas was granted lease number 219 by William Paterson of 13½ rods (1.37 hectares) at Back Row, now Kent Street, on the foreshore of Cockle Bay. The rent was 5 shillings a year for 14 years, securing his right to live there. Edward GOLDSBOROUGH, another soldier in the 102nd Regiment, was also given the next lease of 21½ rods (2.18 hectares) under the same terms.Ryan, R.J Land Grants 1788 – 1809, Sydney 1981

Sussex Street was cut from the rock bordering Cockle Bay and was named by Governor Macquarie in 1810. He also renamed other streets in the area that had military names. Sergeant Majors Row became George Street, Barracks Row became York Street, Soldiers (Middle) Row became Clarence Street and (Soldiers) Back Row became Kent Street. Although old names stick as in 1825 Thomas Bates, boat builder of Back Street was on the list of persons liable to serve as a juror in Sydney.

Thomas and Ann’s third child and first son, William was born on 2 Sep 1812 and was baptised on the 27th day of the same month at St Philips. Two years later on 26 Sep 1814 he was followed by a second son they named James who was not baptised until 26 Feb 1815. Their fifth child Ann, named after her mother, was born on 2 May 1817 and was baptised on the 25th  day of the same month at St Philips. Nathaniel, their third son was born on 24 Nov 1819 and was baptised on 2 Jan 1820 at St Philips.

About this time Thomas was discharged from the army and in the 1822 Muster HO 10/36 he was recorded as being employed as a carter. The former seven year convict now free by servitude living in Sydney with his six children all born in the colony. Lydia aged 16, Maria aged 13, William aged 11, James aged 9, Ann aged 5 and 3 year old Nathaniel. Ann was listed separately under her maiden name of GRIFFIN, came free on the Britannia, wife of T Bates of Sydney.

The Governors of NSW were empowered to grant land to emancipists (ex-convicts), some military and free settlers. Thomas applied for his land grant to Governor Macquarie in a memorial dated 3 July 1820 and was granted 80 acres in Gordon on the North Shore in 1823. He promptly sold the land to the merchant Thomas HYNDES, his son in law George Green’s uncle.

The memorial states:

To His Excellency Governor Macquarie
 Memorial of Thomas Bates, late a Private in the 102nd – 73rd & 46th Regiments ~ Respectfully represents:    That your Memorialist came to this Colony in the Ship Neptune in the year 1790. That your Memorialist has served in the said Regiments upwards of seventeen years; and in consequence of having a wife and six children he obtained his discharge.
That your Memorialist, in order to provide more comfortably for his numerous family, humbly prays Land may be granted to him, with such other
indulgences, as your Excellency may deem him deserving of.
Signed, Thos Bates
I believe the petitioner to be a sober, honest & industrious man. William Cowper   JP
Mr Bates has always been a well connected man. John Piper JP
Sydney 3rd July 1820

Martha, Thomas and Ann’s seventh child and fourth daughter was born on 22 May 1823 and baptised the next month on 15 Jun 1823 at St Philips. She was recorded as Matthew aged two and a half years on the 1825 Muster HO 10/19, but all other details for the rest of the family are correct. This Muster is the first time that Thomas’ occupation was recorded as Boat Builder, but it is unknown if he had his own business or worked for someone else.

Originally ship building was banned in the colony to prevent the escape of convicts and to prevent any infringement on the trading monopoly of the East India Company. New boats were soon required and the existing ones needed constant repairs. The Australian timbers proved difficult to work, but blackbutt, spotted gum and mahogany timbers were soon appreciated in ship construction for their toughness.

Eldest daughter Lydia married shoemaker John STEWART at St Phillips on 1 Mar 1825 and their first child, Thomas and Ann’s first grandchild, Mary Ann arrived on 7 Feb 1826. Sarah, Thomas and Ann’s last child, was born on 9 April 1826 and baptised 30 April at St Philips.

Two years later in the 1828 Census Thomas, aged 53, occupation boat builder, and his wife Ann, aged 42, were still living at Sussex Street with six of their eight children and a lodger born in the colony, Mary Kelly aged 16 years. The Census was taken in Nov 1828 and revealed that the white population of Australia was 37,000. Of these, 21,000 were free and 16,000 were convicts, 23.8% of the population were born in the Colony although Indigenous Australians were not counted.

 BUT Thomas’ status was given as CF, meaning Came Free. I have checked the original records and there is no mistake. One has to remember that the colony of NSW was now almost forty years old and convict origins would have carried a certain stigma.  Thomas had land cleared and cultivated at Sussex Street, with three horses and seven cattle. It is not hard to imagine that their children had an idyllic childhood on the shores of Cockle Bay, with boats to sail, horses to ride and cows to chase!

Thomas must have been fond of his horses. When one was lost or strayed in 1829  he offered a reward of £1 on page one the Sydney Gazette on Thursday 30 Apr. Thomas gave his address as Cockle Bay. . On 1 Aug 1823 Thomas BATES of Kent Street was on a list of persons who received an assigned convict. He was John PODMORE per Malabar 1819, but nothing else is known of him as he was not listed in the 1828 Census of NSW.

Thomas died 17 December 1836 and was buried in the Old Devonshire Street Cemetery. His tombstone read in part:

Sacred to the memory of Mr Thomas Bates,
late of the 102nd Regt. of Foot, aged 64 years.
He was a faithful man and feared God above many.

The cemetery was cleared to make way for the new Central Railway station in 1901 and relatives with family buried there were asked to apply for an exhumation permit to have the remains transferred to a dedicated Pioneer Park at Botany. This was done by Thomas and Ann’s granddaughter, Mrs Lydia WEST of 10 Nickson Street, Surry Hills, Sydney.

Extract from 'The Bates of Sussex Street'

Ann WILLIAMS 1842 - 1899

Ann WILLIAMS, a half caste Ngai Tahu, appears as No.1094 in the 1848 Kaumatua (Blue book), the official record of Ngai Tahu alive in that year. Her father was possibly a Welshman, a whaler, James WILLIAMS. Her Maori mother was unkown, died young and was possibly Annie KAHU. She lived with her parents for approximately two years, then with the PAULIN/PAULEY family. She was then adopted by Tiki karaweko, the first wife of Chief Paororo.

  She married George PAULEY, a half caste aged 24 years, on 6th of May 1861 in Riverton. In 1862, Ann and George Pauley's first child, Joseph was born, and in September 1863, a daughter, Sarah. In 1864 Ann arrived at Nathaniel BATES house at Flax Point, Riverton and announced she was expecting his child. Ann stayed on at his home and together they had another 12 children which Ann and Harriet raised together. When Nathaniel drowned in the Aparima River in 1887, both Harriet and Ann gave evidence at the inquest into his death that they all lived happily together at Raymonds Gap.

 Ann died 12th of October 1899 of tuberculosis and was buried at Riverton Cemetery beside her daughter, Elizabeth and her husband Morgan HAYES.

Her headstone Inscription at Riverton Cemetery:
In Loving Memory Of Ann Williams
Died at Scots Gap (sic)
On Oct 11th 1899 Aged 55 Years R.I.P.

Source: Nathaniel Bates of Riverton, his Families and Decendants by Linda Scott, Finlay Bayne and photos by Michael O'Connor.

Ann BATES, nee GRIFFIN 1784 - 1864

Ann Griffin was an army brat. This unflattering description means that she was born into a military environment, and from her earliest years understood the army culture. She would have been aware of the status and duties of different ranks, and would have been accustomed to moving from one army post to another. No one would know how long the Regiment would be at one post, moves could be sudden, and there could be moves from one country to another. Every army has had its army brats.  Ann’s father Michael was born in Galway, Ireland around 1750, and on 8 August 1762 joined the 42nd Regiment of the British Army, the Royal Highland Regiment. At the tender age of 12 he was already a cordwainer or leather shoe worker but enlisted as a drummer boy, a role that in action was every bit as dangerous as that of a private of the line. He served in all for an incredible sixty years, six of which were before the age of 18.

His service records show the different units he served in and the time he spent in each. Details of his service are shown in the table below: 

Regiment                    Date joined      Date left             Period of service
42nd Regiment          8 Aug 1762      12 Aug 1875     22 years 338 days
2nd Guard &17th       21 Jul 1785      28 Sep 1789     4 years 67 days
NSWCorps&102nd   28 Sep 789      26 Mar 1810     20 years 182 days
NSW Veterans           25 Mar 1810    24 Sep 1823    13 years 184 days

 Unfortunately the records do not tell us of all the places where Michael was stationed, but other information tells us where he was at certain times. The NSW Corps was a unit of the British army raised in England in 1879 for service in the Penal Colony of NSW. It was later known as the ‘Rum Corps’ because many of its officers were involved in the NSW spirit trade and in 1809 it was renamed the 102nd Regiment. There is no record of Michael’s marriage to his wife Mary, whose surname and ancestry are not known, but their first child Ann was baptised on 4 August 1784 at St Nicholas Church, Gloucester. St Nicholas is a 12th Century church located near the river Severn. It is built of limestone and comprises a chancel, north chapel, nave, north aisle and transcript, south aisle with a porch, a west tower and spire, now leaning. The church is no longer in use, but is still consecrated and sometimes hosts special services. Gloucester was built on a Roman Fort and by the Norman conquest in 1066 Gloucester was a royal borough with an important commercial centre and port. Their marriage could have taken place here or in Ireland or elsewhere, but it seems certain that Michael was stationed in England at the time of Ann’s birth.

 The family was still in England when their second child Nathaniel was born five years later. He was baptised in the Holy Trinity Church at Dartford, Kent on 18 May 1788. Dartford was then a market town on the river Darent, 25 kms east of London and close to the Thames River. The Romans built a road from Dover to London which crossed the river at Dartford by ford and the town developed there.  By the time Michael was stationed there, there was a cotton mill and gun powder mill. Dartford had a fire engine and its first public street lamp outside the Parish Church.

Three years later on 27 March 1791 the family departed Portsmouth on the 520 ton Third Fleet ship, the Britannia, arriving in Sydney Cove on 14 October 1791 with 150 male convicts also on board, 21 had died on the journey. The Third Fleet consisted of eleven ships which sailed into Sydney Cove in 1791 with over 2000 convicts and much needed provisions for the settlement. At that time the military barracks were located closer to Sydney Cove and consisted of rough huts and tents, The Wynyard Barracks and Parade Ground were built from 1792 – 1818 and extended from St Philips in the north to Barrack St in the south. It was from here that the NSW Corps marched to Government House to arrest Governor Bligh in 1808, later known as the Rum Rebellion. Ann’s youngest brother, Thomas was born en-route to Australia on 2 April 1791. Ann and Nathaniel were the only soldier children on the 201 day journey on the Britannia, plus an unknown child, ten year old Ann Stoolorn. Two other soldier children were born on board other ships, William Jamieson was born on the Queen and Henry Flemming on the William and Ann. The early dwellings in the colony were made of cabbage tree palm and wattle and daub, boards and twigs plastered with clay.

By the time the Griffin family arrived there were many convicts employed making brick and tiles and more permanent housing was becoming available. Reverend Johnson and his wife Mary had established a school in the first St Philips. Droughts and disease caused many hardships, the lack of fresh vegetables and rampant small pox. Ann’s sister, Lydia was born on the 4 March 1874 but six months later on 1 Sep 1794, her mother Mary died.  Mary’s death was also mentioned in David Collin’s Account of the English Colony in NSW. Michael was out fishing in the lower part of the harbour at the time in order to feed the family. The funeral service was held at St Phillips Church on 2 September 1793 for Mary Griffin, Soldiers wife and she was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground. The Old Sydney Burial Ground was Sydney’s first official cemetery. From 1792 to 1820 the principal burial ground for the colony was on the site where the Sydney Town Hall now stands, on the corner of George and Druitt streets. This cemetery is commonly called the Old Sydney Burial Ground, but it was also known as the George Street Burial Ground, the Cathedral Close Cemetery, and (retrospectively) the Town Hall Cemetery.

Ten year old Ann helped her father bring up her two brothers, aged six and three years and baby sister after her mother’s early death, which gave her the skills to manage a household in preparation for her own marriage as a sixteen year old in 1800. Michael was granted 25 acres at Petersham Hill on 14 Mar 1795, but soon sold it. Rent was only 1 shilling a year, commencing after 5 years. Thus keeping the family military connection solid Nathaniel and Thomas also enlisted in the army. Nathaniel appeared as a Drummer on the 1798 pay list of Captain Johnston’s Company in the NSW Corps and Thomas also enlisted in the corps as a Drummer in 1799.   In 1808 they were described as: Nathaniel Griffin, 18 years, height 5ft 4 1/2 ins, long face, dark complexion, grey eyes, light brown hair. Thomas Griffin, 16 years, height 5ft 8in, round face, fair complexion, hazel eyes, light brown hair. Thomas married Sophia GRANDUE at St Philips on 22 Mar 1810, but died the following year. Nathaniel passed away in 1814 and the GRIFFIN family line was not carried on.

Michael was present on Musters until 1796 for NSW Corps, then on the102nd, 73rd Regiment, and Veteran Company pay Lists. On his discharge in 1823 he was described as about seventy three years of age, five feet eight inches in height, with sandy hair, grey eyes, fair complexion, and by trade or occupation a cordwainer. WO 97/1141/115.  Michael appeared on the November 1828 Census as Griffen, M, (sic)  aged 85 CF (Came Free) Britannia 1791, Protestant, Lodger with John McDonald, Pitt Town, reference G1469. On 20 Feb 1833 Michael died at Pitt Town and was buried at St Mathew's Windsor on 11 Sep Michael's age was given as 96 but should have been 83, profession, farmer. The funeral service was performed by the Reverend Joseph Docker. Later a large family tomb was erected and the memorial also lists his younger daughter, Lydia, one of her sons, and her two former convict husband's, John Benn (Gorgon 1791) and John McDonald (Guildford 1812).

From The Bates of Sussex Street © Marie Heilbrunn 2010

Maria GREEN, nee BATES 1808 - 1896

Maria was born in 1808 at Yorktown, Port Dalrymple on the western side of the Tamar River, Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, when Thomas was stationed there from 1808-1810. She was baptised at St Philips, Sydney after their return to Sydney, on April 1st, 1810. Maria married George Green at St Phillips on the 19th of April 1830 by William COWPER, in the presence of George's guardians, Thomas and Charlotte HYNDES.
George and Maria set up their home  in Sydney.  Maria gave birth to their first child George Amaziah on 26 Dec of that same year, followed by their first daughter, Mary Ann Maria born on 24 Dec 1832. More followed about two years apart and Maria would have been glad to have her mother Ann and sister Lydia living close by.

 On 19 June 1834 George Green’s parents Amaziah and Mary Ann Green (nee Chapel), together with the rest of George’s siblings, travelled to Australia including his married sister Maria and her husband Thomas Costin and their infant child,  Mary, Charlotte, Thomas and Sarah on the Minerva as steerage passengers. Not long after he arrived in Sydney Australia George’s father Amaziah was granted the first freehold title block of land (5 acres – about 2 hectares) on the peninsula later called Greenwich. A brickworks was constructed on one of the blocks of land owned by the Greens This could have been built by Amaziah to carry on his trade. Two years after buying this land he sold it to his son George. Amaziah only lived for four years after he arrived in Sydney, he died 11 Feb 1838.

 Greenwich House was built in 1836 and still stands at George and St Lawrence Streets. It stood on a 20 acre grant originally owned by George Green, boat-builder active in the area in the 1830s.  He had the property divided in allotments and sold in 1840. A punt service ran from the city to Greenwich in 1840s but lack of customers caused it to be cancelled.  In 1850s, when the demand increased, it was reinstated. The young family moved from Sydney to Greenwich in 1837 and later to Milson’s Point on the acre of ground where the family grew up. George leased this land from Robert Campbell.

 George GREEN, shipwright of Milson's Point and Maria nee Bates had six of their children baptised on the same day at St Thomas' Willoughby  10 June 1851 by Reverend WB Clarke. Robert Nathaniel, born 29 May 1838, James Absalom, born 7 May 1840, Agnes Martha born 22 May 1842, Sarah Harriet Hales, born 23 May 1844, Charlotte Lydia, born 23 Aug 1846, and William Joseph born 1 Jul 1849.

 Maria obviously coped with George’s long absences in New Zealand and was kept busy with her growing family. George died 30 Aug 1872 in Dunedin New Zealand. Maria was a widow for 24 years. She died of senility at 24 Salisbury Road, Willoughby on the 16 Feb 1896 at the home of her daughter Charlotte Lydia and her husband John REID. Maria was buried on the 19th of February 1896 at the Church of England section of Gore Hill Cemetery.

Nathaniel BATES 1819 - 1887
 

Nathaniel was born 24 Nov 1819 at Sussex Street, Sydney, New South Wales to Thomas BATES, a Second Fleet convict, born C.1772 Harwich, England and his wife Ann, formerly GRIFFIN, the daughter of a soldier from Galway, Ireland. Nathaniel was Thomas and Ann's sixth child and was baptised at St.Philips, Sydney on 2 Jan 1820 and was raised on the shores of Cockle Bay, now Darling Harbour, where his father set up a boat building business after he retired from the army.

Around 1837, at the age of 18 years, Nathaniel sailed to the South Island of New Zealand with his brother in law, George GREEN, an Englishman, who married Maria, Nathaniel’s sister on 19 Apr 1830 at St Phillip's Sydney NSW. Nathaniel worked as a whaler at Otakou, Purakanui and Stewart Island between 1838 and 1844. In Harwood’s Brokenewy Journal at Purakanui in on 19 August 1838 he recorded that word was sent to BATES to ‘come over and bring all his tools’, so it appears that Nathaniel learnt a trade from his father.

George GREEN purchased four blocks, consisting of about 2,000 acres of land from the Maoris on Rakiura, now called Stewart Island and Centre Island. By 1840 there were 500 acres of wheat and potatoes under cultivation three weatherboard houses, pigs, poultry and other stock, under Nathaniel’s care.

In 1845 on a voyage from Jacob’s River to Stewart Island, about 60 miles across the Foveaux  Straight, Burr Osborne recorded that four men, including himself and Nat BATES were caught in a squall and were forced into George’s Bay for the night. The Maoris that lived in the bay were hospitable and invited them to join their feast, where they were toasting something around the fire. It tasted like toasted cheese, but turned out to be red headed grubs.  Fortunately, the men were able to proceed to Horse Shoe Bay on Stewart Island the next day, in Nathaniel’s open boat, which weighed about two tons.

The Otago Witness Issue 3, 8 March 1851, Page 3, contained a list of unclaimed letters, and included was ‘Mr Nathaniel Bates, Stewart's Island’. By this time Nathaniel was living fulltime at Jacob’s River. The family were included in the list of Europeans, Natives and half Castes residing at Aparima in 1852.

Nathaniel was listed as 30 years old, a sawyer from NSW and resident for 13 years. Buildings included one house and two outhouses. One and a half acres of potatoes were in crop and stock included five cattle and six pigs, but no horses. His wife, Harriet, aged 19, a half caste, and their first two children, Lydia and John, as well Hinepu’s three children also resided there. Both Nathaniel and Harriet could read and write.
In 1857 Nathaniel accompanied the surveyor and explorer John Turnbull THOMSON to Fiordland, through the Waiau Valley to the Takitimu Range, then east to the summit of Centre Hill from where Lake Te Anau and Lake Manapouri could be seen. That evening Thomson recorded that Nat Bates lit a camp fire, and the wood hens came out. Nat decided that a wood hen would make an addition to their salt pork and his attempt was sketched by Thompson and entitled Nat Bates trying to snare a weka for the pot at Centre Hill, 1857.

Nathaniel also accompanied William Saunders and explored the back country of Otago in 1859, looking for suitable areas for grazing sheep, and reached the south side of Lake Wakatipu at Mt Eyre.

In 1861 Nathaniel was registered to vote in the Jacobs River Hundreds New River District and in 1865-66 the Flax Point Riverton Electorate. From 1869 to 1875 he was registered in the Riverton Electorate. There are several parts of Riverton named after him and his sons, including Bates Street, George Street, Charles Street and Bates Point. By 1880 the family were living nearby at Raymonds Gap.

Nathaniel drowned in the Aparima River late on 13 July 1887. He was returning home from the Commercial Hotel late at night and fell from the Jacob's Creek Bridge. His body was found on the beach the next day by a 13 year old boy, James CAMPBELL. He was a good swimmer, and at the inquest it was revealed that he struck his head on one of the piles of the bridge.

The funeral was held on 15 July 1887 at Palmerston Street, and Nathaniel was buried in Riverton Cemetery, Anglican, Block A Plot 40. At the inquest held the next day at the Wallace County Hotel, Riverton, Harriett testified that she lived with the deceased, Nathaniel BATES, and Ann PAULEY at Raymonds Gap and they lived happily together, never quarrelling, or having disputes over money matters.

The Otago Witness newspaper carried this notice on 16 July 1887:
Nathaniel Bates, a very old settler in the Western District, was found drowned in the Aparima River on the 14th. Deceased was remarkable as being the father of 31 children. 

© Marie Heilbrunn 2009


Bibliography
Scott, L. Bayne, F  Nathaniel Bates of Riverton, his families and descendant, ,Christchurch, Tablet 1993Tod, F, Whaling in Southern Waters,  Dunedin,  n.p, 1982Richards, R, The Foveaux Whaling Yarns of Yankee Jack, Otago Heritage Books, Dunedin, 1995.Hall-Jones, J, John Turnbull Thomson, Southland Historical Committee, Reed, 1963Hall-Jones, J, Early Fiordland, Wellington, Reed, 1968

PapersPast http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast

James BATES 1814 - 1841

Sunday, 07 October 2007

It seems that our James Bates did not marry Sarah Fitzpatrick 16th February 1835 at St Johns, Parramatta. Sarah married another James Bates, son of Thomas Bates, transported on the Hillsborugh in 1799. This James Bates died 25th December 1899 at Parramatta, aged 84, born 1815 ? s/b 1821, father Thomas Bates (HILLSBOROUGH 1799, sentenced to life at Middlesex 1798 for theft), mother Mary Catesby (Johnston), Occupation, Bushman (listed on his 1899 death certificate) married Sarah Fitzpatrick and had 9 children. Mary Catesby (Katesby) was sentenced to 7 years transportation in Lancaster, England in 1798 and arrived in Sydney on the Earl Cornwallis in 1801.
So it appears that our James Bates left no descendants.





Last Updated on old site (Friday, 19 June 2009)

The Bates of Sussex Street   Complied by Marie Heilbrunn in 2010

Saturday, 25 December 2010

The Bates of Sussex Street 220 years in Sydney and Beyond This first edition celebrates the 220 years of the Bates families since the arrival, in the Colony of NSW, of Thomas BATES aboard the Neptune in 1790. It also includes contributions from descendants of  Thomas & his wife Ann GRIFFIN. The Bates of Sussex Street   ISBN: 978-0-646-53232-5   Subject: Family Studies Contact: marieheilbrunn at gmail dot com

Last Updated on old site (Wednesday, 23 March 2011)