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Brentford Families - Bates and Rutter

Elizabeth Thormod from Upminster, Essex, wrote in the period 2003 to 2005 about her paternal grandfather's family (Bates) and included Bates & Rutter family trees, entries from trade directories and census returns as well as family memories. Elizabeth's family also includes a Rutter/Clark marriage: see Clark family page for more details of the Clark family.

Elizabeth died in 2010. Her page will remain on this site indefinitely.

In 2017 Marion Dolamore-Bushby wrote: she shares ancestry with Elizabeth. Information from Marion is marked (MDB).

Bates - butchers in Old Brentford

1853 Mason's Directory, Brentford
Bates H. Brentford End, fishmonger

CENSUS 1861 (schedule 62) no. 313 High Street, Old Brentford, Parish of Ealing, Ecclesiastical Dist. St George
Henry BATES head 52 Fishmonger Thame, Oxon.
Martha wife 53
George son 17 Fishmonger
Thomas son 14
Martha daughter 5 scholar New Brentford

Alma Place, Old Brentford, Parish of Ealing, Ecclesiastical Dist. St George
George RUTTER head 35 labourer Cowley, Middx
Caroline wife 35 Isleworth
Caroline daughter 14 Sunday School Brentford
John son 12 labourer
Mary daughter 5 scholar

CENSUS 1871 It seems I have no records of this one

CENSUS 1881 347 High Street, Brentford, district 126/3/4
BATES George head m 36 fishmonger Oxon., Thame
Betsey wife m 35 " Middx, Brentford
George son 14 "
Betsey d. 8 scholar
Nelly d. 2
GRANT Esther dom. ser. 14

282 High Street, Brentford, St Pauls
BATES Thomas head m 33 fishmonger Oxon. Thame
Caroline wife m 35 - Middx, Brentford
Thomas son 15 asst. fishmonger "
James son 13 " "
Ada dau. 11 scholar "
Katie dau. 9 "
Nellie dau. 1 infant EDMUNDS Ann 15 domestic servant "
JOHNSTONE John 17 asst fishmonger "

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DIRECTORY (Post Office) 1882 Brentford
George BATES fishmonger 347 High Street
Thomas BATES butcher 215 High Street
Stephen GOMM punnet maker Bull Lane

DIRECTORY (?) 1898
Thomas BATES butcher 215 High Street
Stephen GOMM (senr) punnet maker 33 Walnut Tree Road
Stephen GOMM (junr) " " 2 Walnut Tree Road

Family stories

My grand father, James BATES, told of one occasion when, as a small boy, he was chased, naked, down the High Street by his mother.

A Boer War puzzle

This I have tried to find corroboration of; if you have something I should be interested to know. Thomas BATES ; to keep his horses exercised in the winter (no information about what he did with them in the summer !) he used to run horse buses from Brentford to London. Also I was told, he sold horses for use in the Boer War. You will see he was something more than just 'butcher'; he had a splendid funeral, accompanied by the Salvation Army band, which held up all the traffic at Hammersmith Broadway - but this is not within the bounds of your enquiry!

Research notes - the Boer War horses

From The Boer War, by Carol DeBoer-Langworthy

In the field, both sides used the latest long-range, high velocity, small-bore repeating rifles and machine guns. Yet horses played a more important role in the ranging over the countryside and in supply lines. Britain had to scour its empire for the 400,346 horses, mules and donkeys that it "expended" in supply lines, pulling artillery, moving soldiers and machinery. The Boer commandos were excellent horsemen and crack shots, able to live in the saddle, and were operating on their home turf with horses that could survive on tough veldt grass. Railroads played a huge part in supply and troop movement, while steam engines and oxen were used to haul wagons and guns.

From an Australian website about the Boer War : English horses cost £40 each, whereas Australian ones were just £16.

Number 215 High Street

This was the home of a Thomas Bates, butcher in the 1901 census. In the 1909/10 Valuation Records T Bates is listed as the occupier, the owners being Misses Emily & Olivia Stein of 37 Netherhall Gardens, Hampstead. The description, dated 9 April 1915:
3 storey stock brick built & tiled shop, with extensive stables at the rear with entrance from a Right of Way. Formerly occupied by a butcher but now empty and in very bad condition.
Ground floor: shop parlor. Basement cellar. Narrow scullery with sink. Bathroom with lavatory & WC. Stables at rear brick built & tiled, loft over. Paved Stafford blue bricks and drained (15 stalls).
First floor: 2 fair rooms.
Top floor: 2 rooms
The whole is in very poor condition.

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Bates family tree

There are a number of Bates on Brentford High Street in the C19, butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers. Elizabeth has provided details of her branch of the family, which originated in Thame, Oxfordshire.

Henry Bates (5 July 1807, Thame) married Martha Dobbinson; in the 1861 census he was living at 313 High Street; when his son Thomas married in 1865 Henry Bates 's occupation was 'hawker'; children, all born Thame unless stated, include:

• Ann Bates (1829)
• William Bates (1834)
• Emma Bates (1834)
• Harry Bates (1836)
• George Bates (1843) married Elizabeth Betsey CLEMENTS in Brentford, 1864; he was a fishmonger and had a son George Bates who married Sarah Ann GOMM in 1888, Brentford
• Thomas Bates (19 July 1846, baptised 14 August 1846 in Thame; he married Caroline RUTTER on 21 August 1865 at St George's Chapel Old Brentford; Thomas was a fishmonger, horse dealer and butcher; in 1881 he was living at 282 High Street and was a fishmonger, assisted by his son Thomas age 15; he died on 6 November 1910 in Hammersmith; (MDB): he was known as Farmer Bates; his children, all born in Brentford include:
  • Thomas Bates (1866): possibly married Kate BEESLEY in Brentford in 1885 (FreeBMD); a butcher living at 215 High Street in 1901 with two daughters Ada C Bates & Violet E Bates
  • James Bates (20 June 1868): born Back Lane Old Brentford; on his birth certificate his father Thomas is described as a fish hawker; James became a master butcher and had more than one shop, including one in Askew Road, Hammersmith; Elizabeth Thormod is descended from James
  • Ada Caroline Bates (1871): thought to have married a GOMM, but no record found [rechecked 2024, marriage in 1907 to Edward George WOODS, Brentford]
  • Kate Bates (1872)
  • Caroline Martha BATES (1874) [found GRO website]
  • Ellen Bates (1880)
• Martha Bates (ca 1852) born Brentford

Rutter family tree

George Rutter (1826) of Cowley, Oxfordshire, brickmaker, married Caroline CLARK (2 February 1828), born Isleworth, in Brentford, 1846 (see Clark family) ; in 1861 George was a labourer and the family was living in 'Almer' ie Alma Place; in 1871 at 9 Sussex Place, Old Brentford, no children at home; their children, all born Brentford included:

• Caroline Rutter (18 November 1846): in 1861 her occupation was 'Sunday School'; married Thomas Bates in 1865: see above
• John Rutter (16 November 1848) married Elizabeth GOMM, daughter of Stephen Gomm, punnet maker - see Gomm family trees
• Mary Rutter (1855) married George son of George DOWLING, shoemaker' (MDB): Mary Rutter was my great great grandmother

Links

The Bates family of fishmongers and fish hawkers are mentioned in the fishmonger page which has more about their work and the challenges of selling fish in warm weather.

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Published ca 2009; last updated October 2024