Albert was my great grandfather, the father of my paternal Grandfather, Leonard Walter Bates.
He was born on 4th March 1877 at 1, Swaines Terrace, Commercial Road, Halifax, Yorkshire. He was the sixth born of nine children. His parents, James and Mary Ann, were in Yorkshire at the time of his birth as his father was a Commercial Clerk working on the opening of railways and moved all over the country. They are shown as living in Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, London and Essex on the censuses. Albert’s older sister, Beatrice, was born in Sheffield in 1875, so the family was in Yorkshire for at least 2 years. Albert was baptised on 10th February 1878 in the Parish of St James, Halifax. In the 1881 census, aged 4, he was living at 7 Blakesney Street, St George In The East (the east end of London). In the next census in 1891, aged 14, Albert was still living with his family at 22 Devonport Street, Ratcliff, East London. He was now a Merchant’s Clerk, the same profession as his Father. On 16th June 1900, at the age of 23, he married Elizabeth Valder at St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney Parish Church. The 1901 census shows Albert and Elizabeth living at 55 Lansdowne Road, Leytonstone, having moved out of the East End to Essex. Albert is still a Clerk.
By the time of the 1911 census, Albert and Elizabeth had three children, one of whom was my paternal grandfather, Leonard Bates. The family was now living at 177 Henley Road, Ilford, Essex and Albert was still a Commercial Clerk. He was now working for Charles Bayer & Co (a manufacturer of ladies underclothing).
The 1911 census also showed that one of Albert’s children had died (Albert James Bates, the firstborn, was born and died in 1902)
Albert went on to become a Commercial Traveller selling Ladies Corsets for Charles Bayer & Co all over the country.
The 1939 register shows Albert, Elizabeth and their youngest daughter, Muriel, living at 132 Newbridge Road, Bath, Somerset.
He died, aged 72, at 151 Balfour Road, Ilford, Essex on 19th October 1949. He left an estate of £3084 17s 2d to his Widow, Elizabeth.
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