Charles Henry Bateson (1903 - 1974)

Born 4 Aug 1903 in Wellington, New Zealand

Husband of Catherine Coy (Lynam) Bateson — married 27 Aug 1923 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia

Died 5 Jul 1974 at age 70 in Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: John Andrewartha [send private message]

Biography

Henry Bateson is Notable.

Charles Henry "Hank" Bateson, ^[1] journalist, author and maritime historian, was born on 4th August 1903 in Wellington, New Zealand; son of Charles Bateson, a company manager from England, and Welsh-born Alice Lowe née Rossiter.^[2] Henry, as he was known so as to be differentiated from his father, was educated at Hurworth school, Taranaki, Whanganui. Charles compiled the New Zealand Lawn Tennis Annual in 1920.

Henry Bateson migrated from New Zealand to New South Wales.

Henry arrived in Australia in 1922.

On 27th August 1923, Henry married fellow-journalist Coy Catherine Foster-Lynam in St Peter's Church of England (Anglican Church), Wooloomooloo (now Darlinghurst).^[3] St Peter’s was de-consecrated in 1993 and subsequently purchased by the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School (SCEGGS) and is now known as the Great Hall of the school campus.^[4]

Having joined the staff of Ezra Norton's newspaper, the Truth ^[1] ,
Henry won repute as a leader-writer and as a talented administrator; at various times he also edited and managed the Melbourne Truth.

During the Second World War ^[1] , Henry Bateson worked for the Department of the Interior, initially as a publicity officer, then as principal information officer, and later as a war correspondent.

After the war, Henry pursued his interest in writing, particularly in the maritime history of Australia and the Pacific. His greatest success came with the 1959 publication of The Convict Ships 1787-1868.
An encyclopaedia of convict transports to the Australian colonies between 1787 and 1868, this remains the standard reference work of its type; an indispensable tool, especially for those researching convict ancestry.^[1]

Following his wife's death in 1962, he married a second time, in 1964 at the Registry Office, Sydney to travel agent, Ann Graham.^[5]

Henry passed away of coronary vascular disease, aged 70 years, on 5th July 1974 at Vaucluse, New South Wales.^[6] Charles was survived by Ann, and daughter, Louise, of his first marriage.

As a lasting legacy, Henry bequeathed his collection of 1,300 books and his personal papers to the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.^[7]
His History of Burns, Philp & Co. Ltd remained uncompleted when he died.^[1]

Select bibliography

• Spitfires over Malta (1943)
• First into Italy (1944)
• The Convict Ships 1788-1868 (1959)
• Gold Fleet for California: forty-niners from Australia and New Zealand (1964)
• Patrick Logan: Tyrant of Brisbane Town (1966)
• The War with Japan: a Concise History (1968)
• Early Sailor (1968)
• Early Soldier (1968)
• Early Surveyor (1970)
• A Chartmaker (1972)
• A Gold Commissioner (1972)
• Australian Shipwrecks volume one: 1622-1850 (1972)
• Dire Strait: a History of Bass Strait (1973)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4}
   Fletcher, B H. Bateson, Charles Henry (1903–1974), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,
   published first in hardcopy 1993, accessed online 12 Feb 2018
2. ↑ New Zealand Birth Index #1903/25354
3. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #9450/1923
4. ↑ St Peter's Church, Darlinghurst; accessed 1 Aug 2019
5. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #8729/1964
6. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #8243/1974
7. ↑ Mitchell Library (1986). Bateson collection: a complete listing of titles acquired by the Library from the Estate of Charles Henry Bateson. State Library Catalogue. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales; accessed 12 Feb 2018

• Charles Bateson Wikipedia®; accessed 12 Feb 2018.