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Parent Page
Appleby Magna
Village Site
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A
biographical article about two appleby families over the last
three centuries
Anne (Bates) Silins, who lives in Ontario, Canada, has sent
us the following letter written by her Grandmother Annie Agnes (Rowland) Bates
on 15th February 1965.
Anne has also written articles on Growing
Up in Appleby in the 1940's |
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“Anne, I will give the information I know about the Bates and Rowland families
coming to Appleby Magna in the 1700's.” from Annie Agnes (Rowland) Bates.
BATES TALES.
We assume that BATES came to Appleby Magna in the early 1750's. Family stories
and research leads us to believe they came from either Ashby or Measham. BATES
was first mentioned in church records of Appleby when a son John born on 27
February 1756. John married Mary ALLUM 14 Oct. 1778. They had three children
William, Ann and Henry.
William BATES (baptised 12 Oct. 1794 - died 11 Oct. 1843) married Mary PLANTE
in March 1817 at Appleby. They had seven children....Henry, Edwin, Elizabeth,
Valentine John, Catherine, William and Charles. Two sons and one daughter went
to Australia. Valentine John went to America.
William died when he was age 49 years, family stories tell us that he broke his
neck while jumping a gate on his horse. Mary (Plant) BATES brought up the
children alone and lived in one of the squire’s cottages, so her husband must
have worked on the estate when he was alive.
Later one of her sons poached a rabbit and the squire order her to turn him out
or she and her family would be turned out of the cottage. She refused, so the
squire turned her out into the street. A Mr. James PARKER who owned his own
farm, therefore he didn’t come under the squire’s thumb, let her have a
cottage in the Duck Lake. Life was hard and the young Bates sons continued to
poach for food. They had many confrontations with the Squire and shortly after
two of her sons and one daughter went to Australia and they made good there, it
is said they were shop keepers. Her son Charles, your Great grandfather, remained in England. He married Ann
NICKLIN of Measham and for years he worked at Measham as a carpenter for a firm
of builders named LILLEY. |
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Later he went to Australia to join his brothers, but
only stayed two years and returned to Appleby and started the shop in the
middle house located over the brook near the Moat House.
It was in that house that your Grand father, Charles Thomas BATES and his sister Mary Jane were
born. The senior Charles built up a very good business there and after some
years bought and ran the grocery and butcher shop and bakery in Church Street
at Bowleys Lane.
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This Great Grandfather, Charles, was a wonderful rider and hunted with the
Atherstone Hunt for many years. He always used to come home merry and dance on
the kitchen table so his wife told me. He always smoke a cigar and was a keen
worker for the Liberal Party. He loved Christmas and there were exciting days
that his son and daughter would spend Christmas morning taking meals to some
old people and poor people, who otherwise would not have had a Christmas
dinner. In the evening of Christmas day he entertained the Choir. Appleby
Choir was quite well known in those days, there were about forty men and boys.
Well the boys were given a glass of you Grandma’s ginger wine, mince pies and
biscuits, and the men of course drank ale. About 11.00 p.m the boys were sent
home and the men settled down to singing, dancing and drinking, and none went
home sober even the policeman came and I’m afraid he was in no better
condition. How your Great Grandfather enjoyed all this company.
He was very keen on blood sports and told me about how he kept a badger in the
pig sty. On Sunday morning he would invite any man out of the village to
bring his dog and have a fight. Well his wife got tired of this and one day when he
had gone hunting she took a spade and hit the badger on the head and killed it.
She buried it in the garden. Next day there was a great hue and cry, the
badger had escaped. So for a fortnight every evening the men in the village
gathered together with their dogs and went hunting for the badger. At last
when your old Great Grannie had had her fun, she told them they could call the
hunt off as the badger was buried at the bottom of the garden.
Next the old chap took to cock fighting in the Bull Ring. The Bull Ring was
the intersection of Top Street and Snarestone Lane. I can just remember it.
However that did not last very long. Your Great Grandfather was ill in bed one
time and as he recovered he asked for chicken stew. Great Grandmother made him
a very nice stew and he told her how much he had enjoyed it. She said to him,
“that’s all right, that is one cock who will never fight again”.
After that he went in for trotting races on the No-mans- heath road. He raced
his horse Major against any one who would compete.
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| Charles Thomas BATES married Agnes Annie ROWLAND of Homeleys Farm, Ducklake on
14 Sept. 1911. They had five children. Charles Rowland, Kathleen Ann, Frank,
Roger, and John. After the death of Charles in September 1913, son Charles Thomas BATES carried
on until the outbreak of the Second World War. This was nearly 100 years of
Bates’ shops in Appleby. |
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Charles Thomas Bates, Charles Rowland Bates
and Charles Bates, 1912.
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After the shops were sold the Bates family went to live at Lower Rectory Farm
in Snarestone Lane. The farm was sold in the early 1960's and the family went
to live in Lyddington. The one remaining Bates in Appleby then for a few years
was youngest son John who lived with his family in a cottage in Snarestone
Lane.
ROWLAND TALES. (Annie Agnes BATES family)
The ROWLAND family are supposed to have come over with William from Normandy in
1066. They lived for centuries at a place called ‘the Outwoods’ near Burton on
Trent. Your Great Grandfather Matthew ROWLAND was born there in 1863, he was
the last Rowland to be born at Outwoods. His Mother - your Great great
Grandmother became a widow, John ROWLAND died young. She had no one to fight
for her and little money. She was soon turned out of Outwoods by the then all
powerful Marquis of Anglesey.
Matthew Thomas ROWLAND came to Appleby around 1882, and lived in the area
known as Ducklake at the farm Homeleys. He and his wife Agnes, had seven
children, Annie, Jack, Walter, Thomas, Edith, Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Edna. He
farmed here until 1942 when he died. He was a member of the Baptist Chapel
which was in Top Street. He was buried in the graveyard which surrounded the
Chapel. His grave and later his wife Agnes Annie’s grave was right in front of
the original front door to the Chapel. Now this Chapel is a dwelling. ( Do
Matthew and Agnes haunt the family living there? And I wonder what happened to
the headstones. I, Anne Silins, took a photograph of these headstones in
1977.)
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After Matthew ROWLAND died in 1942, his wife Agnes Rowland moved into the
Tudor/Georgian house which sits across from the Black Horse Inn. She and her
daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) lived in the Tudor portion of the house and son
Thomas and his Annie lived and farmed from the Georgian portion of this house.
Another son Jack Rowland farmed the farm located at he bend near the top of
Bowley’s Lane for many years.
Daughter, Edith (Chapman) lives in
Desford. Son, Walter farmed at Ridge Lane near Nuneaton. After Lower Rectory Farm was sold
daughter Annie Bates moved to Lyddinton, Rutland. Youngest daughter, Edna
(Miller) lived and died in Appleby.
Most of the off spring of the Charles Thomas BATES/ Annie Agnes ROWLAND family
remained in the midlands. The oldest son Charles Rowland Bates left to live in
Victoria, British Columbia in 1951. |
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