William Henry Bateson (3 June 1812,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

– 27 March 1881,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

) was a British academic, who served as Master of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. The son of Richard Bateson, a Liverpool merchant, Bateson was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...

under Samuel Butler, and at

, being admitted in 1829, matriculating in 1831, graduating

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(3rd classic) 1836,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

1839, B.D. 1846,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

('' per lit. reg.'') 1857. He trained as a lawyer, teacher, and clergyman: he was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

in 1836, was second master at the Proprietary School in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in 1837, and was ordained deacon in 1839 and priest in 1840. He was chaplain at Horningsea (1840–43) and Vicar of

Madingley Madingley is a small village near Cambridge, England. It is located close to the nearby villages of Coton and Dry Drayton on the western outskirts of Cambridge. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 210. The village was kno ...

(1843–47). He gained a Fellowship at St John's in 1837, and served as Rede Lecturer (1841), Senior Bursar (1846–57), and Public Orator (1848–57). He was appointed

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of St John's in 1857, continuing as Master until his death in 1881. In 1858–59 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Bateson was a governor of

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

The Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

, and actively promoted the higher education of women. He was the father of the geneticist

William Bateson William Bateson (8 August 1861 – 8 February 1926) was an English biologist who was the first person to use the term genetics to describe the study of heredity, and the chief populariser of the ideas of Gregor Mendel following their rediscove ...

, the journalist and suffragist

Margaret Heitland Margaret Heitland (née Bateson; 27 February 1860 – 31 May 1938) was a British journalist and social activist ( suffragette). She was the daughter of William Henry Bateson, master of St John's College, Cambridge. In 1901 she married Willi ...

and the historian Mary Bateson and the grandfather of cyberneticist

Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson (9 May 1904 – 4 July 1980) was an English anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, visual anthropologist, semiotician, and cyberneticist whose work intersected that of many other fields. His writings include '' Steps to an ...

.Nigel Rapport, 'Bateson, Gregory (1904–1980)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004

References

* 1812 births 1881 deaths Masters of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at Shrewsbury School Academics from Liverpool Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge Cambridge University Orators Bateson family {{UK-academic-bio-stub