John Arthur (Daddy) Bates

20-03-1852 to Jan 1935 

First entry 5 April 1876. Promoted Warrant Officer 1 January 1889 Seconded to HMCS Protector for trip to China in 1900 Chief Gunner (g)(T)(Commissioned Warrant Officer) 1 July 1911. Lieutenant ADNO (Assist District Naval Co-ordinator) 1 January 1914 Lieutenant Commander 1 january 1922 Died in Melbourne January 1935.

 

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The Argus, 16 January 1935

OBITUARY.

Lieut.-Commander J. A. Bates, a retired officer of the Royal Australian Navy, had had a long association with the sea, first as a member of the mercantile marine and later as a naval man. He was born in Buckinghamshire, England, in, 1852, and at the age of 14 he became a ship's apprentice. He was serving  aboard the brig Emily, which was trading between Africa and Australia, when he contracted malaria fever at Madagascar, and in 1871 he was a patient in the Melbourne Hospital with that complaint. After his recovery he obtained a position in the Melbourne Harbor Trust, and was later manager of the coal supply department. However he joined the Victorian Navy in 1876, and served aboard the three-decker frigate Nelson. He was a warrant-officer with the Victorian naval contingent in 1900, and seven years later was placed in charge of the First Volunteer Australian Naval Cadet Force. Early in the year 1914 he retired with the rank of lieutenant; but the outbreak of the war saw him back again on duty, and he was placed in charge of port war signal stations. Later he became chief executive officer at the Naval Staff Office, and was promoted to the rank of lieut.- commander. Towards the end of the war he acted as District Naval Officer for Victoria, and finally retired in 1919. The eldest son, Ernest John, was S.D.N.O. at Brisbane until his retirement recently. Another, John Arthur, is proprietor of the Advance Engineering Co., whilst the other, Harold, is on the staff of the Vacuum Oil Co. The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon from his residence, 53 Verdon street, and was largely attended. The casket was draped with the Union Jack, placed on a gun- carriage and drawn from his residence to the cemetery by members of the Australian Naval Reserve. The Lieu- tenant-Commander's cocked hat and the swords were carried on the top of the casket. The flag, which was used as a pall, was supported by members of the Volunteer Naval Cadet Corps—E. Mackley, B. Blatchford, W. Osborne, H. E. Jones, T. Tomkin, S. Reed, A. Nelson, E. Devison, F. Brophy, E. Dunkerley, G. Bunton and C. Walley. Among the many floral tributes were magnificent wreaths from R.A.N.R. Officers, Williamstown; 1900- 1911 Naval Cadet Association, Em- ployees Advance Engineering Co., H. Rowdon & Son, and Employees of the Vacuum Oil Co.   The funeral cortege was preceded by the Naval Reserve Band, and many Naval and Reserve officers and men were in attendance and marched in the cortege. Bugler W. E. Whitford sounded the "Last Post." The Rev. Dr. A. Law, a former vicar of Holy Trinity, and formerly Naval Chaplain, conducted impressive services at the house and grave, and spoke eulogistically of the services rendered to the old Victorian Navy and, later, to the Australian Navy by the late Commander Bates. Nelson Bros. had charge of the funeral arrangements.

Williamstown Chronicle, 19 January 1935

Field Glasses belonging to Gunner Bates which accompanied him to China.
Navy Heritage Centre, Garden Island, NSW.

Profile in The Australian Illustrated Enclclopaedia of The Boxer Uprising 1899-1901, Justin Corfield, Slouch Hat Publications, McCrae Australia, 2001.

In an article subheaded "Naval Veterans of 89 and 80", in the Williamstown Chronicle on 26 October 1912 this man was listed as receiving a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for 15 years service. To qualify he would have to have served at least four years in the Victorian Naval Forces.