Geoffrey Voltelin Bates 5th Bt (1921 - 2005)

Born 2 Oct 1921 in Tattenhall, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Kitty Kendall (Lane) Bates — married 12 Jul 1945 in Westminster St. Margaret, London, England

Husband of Olivia Gwyneth Zoe (Fitzroy) Bates — married 31 Jul 1957 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Juliet Eleanor Hugolyn (Whitelocke) Bates — married about Jan 1971 in Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 2005 at age 83 in Denbighshire, Wales, United Kingdom

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Biography

Geoffrey Bates 5th Bt is Notable.

Geoffrey Bates 5th Bt was born in Cheshire, England.

Sir Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, 5th Bt. succeeded to the title of 5th Baronet Bates, of Bellefield, co. Lancaster [U.K., 1880] on 16 October 1946. He held the office of High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1969. He gained the rank of Major in the service of the Cheshire Yeomanry. He lived in 2003 at Gyrn Castle, Llanasa, Holywell, Flintshire, Wales. His second name, Voltelin was given to him in memory of Pieter Voltelin Van Der Byl, his maternal grandmother's Dutch-South African paternal grandfather, Pieter Voltelin Van Der Byl (1798-1849) of Stellenbosch, Cape Colony, South Africa.

Birth and Parentage

Sir Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, 5th Bt. the son of Major Cecil Robert Bates ^[1]and Hylda Madeleine Heath, was born in Tattenhall, Cheshire, England, on 2 October 1921.^[2][3]

He was educated at Radley College, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England.1 He fought in the Second World War. He was decorated with the award of the Military Cross (M.C.) in 1942. He gained the rank of Captain in the service of the 8th Hussars. He succeeded to the title of 5th Baronet on the death of his uncle, Sir Percy Elly Bates, 4th Bt, on 16 October 1946. Percy Bates' only son, Geoffrey's cousin Eddie Bates who would have become 5th Bt, had been shot down over Ladbergen, Steinfurt, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, a year before on 1 January 1945.

Marriages and Family

Geoffrey married, firstly, Kitty Kendall Lane, daughter of Ernest Kendall Lane and Dorothy Elizabeth Dale, in Westminster St. Margaret, London, England, on 12 July 1945. ^[4][5]

Children of Sir Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, 5th Bt. and Kitty Lane

1. Edward Robert Bates, 6th Bt. b. 4 Jul 1946, d. 25 Mar 2007

1. Richard Geoffrey Bates b. 13 Mar 1948, d. 3 Aug 2002

He married, secondly, Hon. Olivia Gwyneth Zoë FitzRoy, daughter of Robert Oliver Fitzroy, 2nd Viscount Daventry and Grace Zoë Guinness, on 31 July 1957. ^[6][7]

Children of Sir Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, 5th Bt. and Hon. Olivia Gwyneth Zoë FitzRoy

1. Celina Zoë Bates b. 7 Oct 1958

1. Sarah Rose Bates b. 4 Jan 1960, d. 5 Mar 1977

He married, thirdly, Juliet Eleanor Hugolyn Whitelocke, (widow of Edward Colin Winter), daughter of Commander G. Whitelocke, in January 1971. ^[8]

Death

He died on 13 February 2005 at age 83. ^[9]

Telegraph Obituary

Sir Geoffrey Bates, 5th Bt, who has died aged 83, was awarded an MC as a second lieutenant with the 8th King's Royal Irish Rifles in the Western Desert. On September 7 1942, he was in command of the leading troop of a squadron of light tanks operating against the enemy's southern flank near Hemlimat, Egypt. The wadi from the Qattara Depression along which he had passed came under heavy fire from his front and flanks and, as his troops approached the end of a narrow defile, an anti-tank gun opened up on them. Bates was ordered to pull back, but he remained within 200 yards of the gun and drew its fire while the rest of his squadron withdrew. Although his tank was hit, he continued to direct his comrades across difficult terrain until they reached safety. He was awarded an immediate MC.^[10] Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, the only son of Major Cecil Bates, DSO, MC, was born at Tattenhall, Cheshire, on October 2 1921 and succeeded in the baronetcy in 1946 on the death of his uncle, Sir Percy Bates, 4th Bt, a former chairman of the Cunard Steam Ship Company. The baronetcy was created in 1880 for Sir Edward Bates, who had been MP for Plymouth. Geoffrey went to Radley before being commissioned into his regiment in 1941. He joined it in the Western Desert where soldiers competed for a place in his tank, calculating that while his dash and enthusiasm would put him in the forefront of any attack, he would only stir the enemy from its slumbers, leaving those in his wake to bear the full brunt of their fire. On one occasion, his verve left him stuck on his own behind enemy lines, and he was ordered to wait until nightfall before attempting to withdraw. He was an incorrigible fidgeter, and by mistake knocked a switch which turned the headlights full on and revealed his position to the enemy. In the darkness of the tank's interior, he could not find the switch again, and had no alternative but to draw his pistol, disembark and shoot out the lights. After this adventure, there was a sharp fall in the numbers applying for a place in his crew. The regiment returned to England with the 7th Armoured Division in time to take part in the invasion of Normandy. Bates was then appointed ADC to General Sir Neil Ritchie, commander of 12th Corps, and accompanied him to Edinburgh when the latter became GOC Scottish Command. After demobilisation, Bates took up a partnership with the shipowners Edward Bates & Sons, but following the death, in 1957, of another uncle, he moved, with his family, to Gyrn Castle, Holywell, Clwyd, where he succeeded in developing the farming, fishing and shooting potential of an estate much reduced in size by death duties. He also held a number of directorships, including that of the Globe Insurance Company. Bates was, in turn, treasurer and secretary of the Flint and Denbigh Hunt. He was also clerk of the course for the hunt's point-to-point and he would ride his own horse, Sam, at hunt races. On Tuesday 18 March 1969 he was appointed High Sheriff of Flintshire.^[11] He suffered more than his share of tragedy. His first wife died suddenly after a minor operation, while one of his daughters was killed by a car when walking along a road. The death of his second wife, in 1969, left him with four children and a large castle to run. A man of less fortitude might have been crushed by his sorrows, but Bates filled Gyrn with his sense of fun. Sir Geoffrey Bates died on February 13. He married first, in 1945, Kitty Kendall Lane, from Saskatchewan. After her death he married secondly, in 1957, Olivia FitzRoy, daughter of the 2nd Viscount Daventry, the author of several children's books; she was working on the regimental history of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars at the time of their wedding. Following her death he married, thirdly, in 1971, Hugolyn Whitelocke-Winter. She predeceased him as did a son and a daughter. He is survived by a son by his first marriage and by a daughter of the second. The son, Edward, who was born in 1946, succeeds in the baronetcy.^[12]

Mr Geoffrey Voltelin Bates Gender: Male Last Residence: Holywell, Flintshire, England Postal Code District: CH8 Death Date: 13 Feb 2005

Sources

1. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Leicester Evening Mail - Thursday 13 June 1935. Retrieved (with sub) from BNA (Here;) Accessed 6 Apr 2023.
2. ↑ Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, 1921 in England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
3. ↑ Geoffrey V Bates, 1921 in England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008. FamilySearch Online Database, citing Birth Registration, Chester, Cheshire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
4. ↑ Kitty K Lane and null, 1945 in England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005. FamilySearch Online Database, citing 1945, quarter 3, vol. 1A, p. 1130, Westminster St. Margaret, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 8 October 2014.
5. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Birmingham Daily Post - Monday 04 June 1956. Retrieved (with Sub) from the BNA (Here;) Accessed 10 Apr 2023.
6. ↑ Olivia G Z Fitzroy and null, 1957 in England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005. FamilySearch Online Database, citing 1957, quarter 3, vol. 4B, p. 2539, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
7. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Wedding of Sir Geoffrey Bates. Chester Chronicle - Saturday 03 August 1957. Retrieved (with sub) from BNA (Here;) Accessed 6 Apr 2023.
8. ↑ Juliet E H W Winter and null, 1971 in England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005. FamilySearch Online Database, citing 1971, quarter 1, vol. 8A, p. 607, Ruthin, Denbighshire, Wales, General Register Office. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
9. ↑ Geoffrey Voltelin Bates, Feb 2005 in England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007. FamilySearch Online Database, citing Death, Denbigh North, Denbighshire, Wales, General Register Office, Southport, England. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
10. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. Coventry Evening Telegraph - Friday 06 November 1942. Retrieved (with sub) from BNA (Here;) Accessed 6 Apr 2023.
11. ↑ British Newspaper Archive. New Sheriffs Appointed. Cheshire Observer - Friday 21 March 1969. Retrieved (with sub) from BNA (Here;) Accessed 6 Apr 2023.
12. ↑ Obituary., The Telegraph. 12 April 2005. Sir Geoffrey Bates, Bt. Retrieved from The Telegraph (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.

• British Newspaper Archive:(Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
• Landed families of Britain and Ireland: (447) Bates of Gyrn Castle, Manydown Park and Hinderton Hall, baronets. Retrieved from LFBI (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
• Google Groups. Peerage News Retrieved from Google (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.
• Liverpool Nautical Research Society. Retrieved from LNRS (Here;) Accessed 5 Oct 2022.