From Christine Bate’s document BateBatchford.doc
The Bate Family
Geoff’s father, Harry Bate, was the only son of John and Naomi Parnham Bate. John Bate and Naomi Parnham were married at the Parish Church of East Retford on August 3rd1886. On the copy from the church registry that I have from Dorothy, John is described as a widower. His father, Job Bate, was a florist. Naomi’s father, John Henry Parnham was a labourer.
An addendum to the document states that John Bate was born 23rd March 1856, baptized 20th April 1856, confirmed 3rd April 1872, and took his first communion on 7th April 1872.
Grandpa came from Nottinghamshire and was the gardener at the Handsworth rectory. Since Handsworth was a “good living”, the rectory and grounds were large and the gardener’s cottage that came with the job fronted on the main road past the church at the top of Handsworth Hill. Geoff’s mother talked about them walking up to the house on Saturday evenings for a social visit, and stopping in at Storer’s greengrocery to buy ripe bananas cheaply because they would be too ripe to sell by Monday. She talked about Grandpa having a barrel of beer under the stairs and that although they may have been short of other things, the beer was always there. About the time Grandpa retired, the cottage was torn down to make way for the widening of Handsworth Road and they moved to a small stone row house at the left hand side near the top of Richmond Road.
Geoff’s father had two sisters, Polly and Lucy, who were both older than he. Auntie Polly married Harold Oldfield, who owned his own coal delivery business. This was in the days when coal was delivered to houses by the hundredweight (cwt) sack. The men stood with their backs to the flatbed truck and pulled a sack onto their shoulders then walked to the coalhouse, usually a small storage place next to the lavatory, and dumped the coal out. Polly, I believe, had been married before but her husband died, maybe in WWI. They had one son, John who married Gwen, and Stephanie was their only child. Stephanie was a bridesmaid when we married. They now live in Jersey. Harold was a real character, he had a habit of sucking in his breath when he started to tell you something and he loved sharing his latest events and discoveries, for instance when they acquired a T.V. before most people had them and Uncle Harold discovered ballet. He liked to “take cuttings” in parks as he walked around. He was a very kind, generous person and, even when Auntie Polly’s rheumatoid arthritis crippled her, he carried her into the car for outings, especially to Bramhall Lane to watch Yorkshire play cricket.
Harold paid for Geoff to go to the local gym for boxing lessons to build up his strength after his father died, and when John got a new bicycle, he gave John’s old racing bike to Geoff. However, Mum thought the drop handlebars were too dangerous, sold the bike and bought Geoff a regular bike much to his disgust.
Auntie Lucy lived in Aughton on Main Street, in a row house near the Black Bull. She married Tom Lawson and they had two daughters, Dorothy and Marjorie. At one point, they had a farm in Aston but Tom enjoyed his drink and they did not prosper. Dorothy was about ten years older than Geoff and enjoyed mothering him. Geoff talked about the two of them going to Nottinghamshire to visit relatives there. She met Bill Aitchison when he was stationed at Aughton during the war and they were married soon after the war ended. Bill was a Geordie and they bought a house in Whitley Bay where they lived all their married lives. It was Bill who was asked to label some baby clothes and bring them to the hospital after Maureen was born. To Dorothy’s horror, he wrote AITCHISON, army style, right down the front of the clothes. Auntie Lucy had tuberculosis before I knew Geoff and she slept out in a garden hut in the fresh air for a long time. After the war and after Grandma Bate died, Grandpa Bate lived with Auntie Lucy. I remember him sitting in a chair by the fire, saying very little. He had lovely fine white hair.
Uncle Harry was Geoff’s great uncle who owned a strawberry farm in Belbroughton in Worcestershire. He was reputed to have the strawberries picked early in the morning while the dew was still on them so that they weighed more. I never knew him, but I did know “Auntie Polly at Belbroughton”. Uncle Harry was a bachelor and Auntie Polly was his housekeeper. Her claim to fame as far as Geoff was concerned was that she had been to tea where the poet A.E. Housman had also visited and so, as he said, “She had used the same slop bowl as A.E. Housman”. The slop bowl was part of a tea service in those days and the hostess emptied the dregs from your cup into it before pouring your next cup of tea.