Joshua Bates

Joshua Bates (October 10, 1788 – September 24, 1864) was an American international financier who divided his life between the United States and the United Kingdom. Early life Bates was born in Commercial St., Weymouth, Massachusetts on October 10, 1788. He was the son of Col. Joshua Bates (1755–1804), who fought in the American Revolutionary War, and Tirzah (née Pratt) Bates (1764–1841). After his father's death in 1804, his mother remarried to Ebenezer Hunt (1760–1832) in 1808. His sister, Nancy Bates, was married to Capt. Warren Weston, the mother of abolitionist Maria Weston Chapman (who Bates paid for her education in London). His paternal grandparents were Abraham Bates and Sarah (née Tower) Bates. Career Early in his career, he worked for William Gray, owner of Gray's Wharf in Charlestown. A merchant and a banker, in 1828 Bates became associated with the great house of Baring Brothers & Co. of London, of which he eventually became the senior partner. He was arbitrator of the commission convened in 1853 to settle the claims of American citizens arising from the War of 1812.