Bateman Family

John Bateman (1789-1855) was born in Denton, Buckinghamshire, England. He died 3 May 1855 in Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia. He married Mary Ann Benningfield (daughter of Thomas Timothy Benningfield and Mary Ellington) 4 March 1824 in Hutton, Essex, England. She was born 21September 1798 in St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, London, England, and died about 1879 in Fremantle. Having arrived via Medina 1830, JB bought town lots, set up business. Memorial in Fremantle cemetery, Congregational D3.

Second generation: John (1824-1909), Walter (22 June 1826—24 September 1882). Firm J&W Bateman set up 1860. Walter (died unmarried) sold his share to John 1872 (or 1874). Walter Bateman's gravestone in Fremantle cemetery, at Congregational D3, also remembers his father John Bateman Snr.

Third generation: John's son John Wesley Bateman (1852-1907) took over the firm from his father 1900. He married Mary Armstrong (daughter of Adam Francis Armstrong and Louisa Jones) on 16-May-1878. He died of 'ptomaine poisoning'.

Fourth generation. JWB Snr had a son also named John Wesley Bateman (1879-1947) m. Daisy Kate Augusta (1892-1940). John Wesley Jnr died of 'heart problems' 4 October 1947 and is buried in Fremantle Cemetery, Congregational MON D 82. Another son was William Augustus (1866-1890).

[[img/batemanstone.jpg|]]

One of the Batemans built Kelso House, 111 South Terrace.

References and Links

Many thanks to Robert Ward for an invaluable, comprehensive genealogy of the family.

Bott, Bruce 2001, 'Some of John Bateman's houses in and around Fremantle', Fremantle Studies, 2: 17-35.

Brown, Patricia M. 1996, The Merchant Princes of Fremantle: The Rise and Decline of a Colonial Elite 1870-1900, UWAP.

Hitchcock, JK 1929, The History of Fremantle, The Front Gate of Australia 1829-1929, Fremantle City Council.

Wikipedia entry for John Bateman 1789-1855

Geoffrey Bolton's entry for John Bateman 1789-1855 in the Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1966

Walter Bateman's gravestone in Fremantle cemetery, probably at Congregational D3, also remembers his father John Bateman >
The gravestone of John Bateman 2nd is probably at Congregational D28, adjacent.

Thanks to descendant Gillian Nicholas for a correction re the deaths of the two JWBs.

Freotopia

This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 17 January, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/bateman.html (it was last updated on 17 November, 2023), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.