Sir William Frederick Coates, 1st Baronet (1866 – 19 January 1932) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

and politician in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Early life

Coates was born in Belfast in 1866. He studied at the

Royal Belfast Academical Institution The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today is ...

. He was the son of David Lindsay Coates and Sara (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Mulligan) Coates.

Career

He initially entered the

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

trade, but became a stockbroker in 1887, building up an extensive business known as William F. Coates & Co, stockbrokers. In 1902 he was elected to

Belfast Corporation Belfast City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhéal Feirste) is the local authority with responsibility for part of the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of (), the l ...

. He was chairman of the finance committee from 1917 and was elected

Lord Mayor of Belfast The Lord Mayor of Belfast is the leader and chairperson of Belfast City Council, elected annually from and by the City's 60 councillors. The Lord Mayor also serves as the representative of the city of Belfast, welcoming guests from across the Un ...

in 1920 and then re-elected twice, serving until 1923. He hosted the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

when they visited Belfast to open the

Parliament of Northern Ireland The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended because of its inability to restore ord ...

(of which he was also a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, both ''ex officio'' as Lord Mayor and as an elected member 1924-1929) in July 1921. For hosting the monarchs, and guiding Belfast past the sectarian conflict that marked the creation of Northern Ireland in the early 1920s, Coates was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Haypark. He served as Lord Mayor again from 1929 to 1931. He served as

High Sheriff of Belfast The High Sheriff of Belfast is a title and position which was created in 1900 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898, with Sir James Henderson the first holder. Like other high sheriff positions, it is largely a ceremonial post today. The ...

(1906–1907) and as

High Sheriff of Antrim The High Sheriff of Antrim is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Antrim. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the high sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judi ...

(1931–1932).

Personal life

On 27 November 1907, Coates married Elsie Millicent Gregory, daughter of Colonel Frederick William Gregory. Together, they were the parents of: * Jean Ann Dorothy Coates, who married Thomas Roland Lecky Sinclair in 1938. * Sir Frederick Gregory Lindsay Coates, 2nd Baronet (1916–1994), who was a Brigadier in the

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as th ...

. He married Joan Nugent Spinks, daughter of Major-General Sir Charlton Watson Spinks. Coates died on 19 January 1932 and was succeeded by his son Frederick.Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 20 January 1932 Upon his son's death in 1994, Sir William's grandson, David Frederick Charlton Coates (b. 1948), became the 3rd Baronet.

Arms

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, William 1866 births 1932 deaths High Sheriffs of Belfast High Sheriffs of Antrim Politicians from Belfast Businesspeople from Belfast British stockbrokers Lord Mayors of Belfast Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1921–1925 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1925–1929 Members of the Senate of Northern Ireland 1929–1933 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Ulster Unionist Party members of the Senate of Northern Ireland