William Bates, or William Bate, (died 8 November 1700) and other

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

emigrated from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

to Gloucester County (now Camden County),

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

where in 1682 they established Newton Colony, the third

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

settlement in

West Jersey West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was ofte ...

.Clement, John (1877). "William Bates". ''Sketches of the first emigrant settlers in Newton Township, Old Gloucester County, West New Jersey''. Camden: Sinnickson Chew. pp. 47-56 William Bates was the first

English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

settler of present-day

Oaklyn, New Jersey Oaklyn is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,930, a decrease of 108 (−2.7%) from the 2010 census count of 4,038, which in turn reflected a decline ...

.Lang, Carole Ann (16 October 1975). "William Bates, a builder of freedom". ''Weekly Retrospect''.

Ireland

In 1670, William Bates was a resident of

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by ...

where he raised a family, including five children: Jeremiah, Joseph, Abigail, William, and Sarah. Bates attended Quaker religious services which were held in the town of Wicklow. Prior to 1674, West Jersey had been partitioned into five territories, each called a ''Tenth''. The five Tenths, stretching from

Assunpink Creek Assunpink Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in western New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garde ...

southward to an area inclusive of the

Cohansey River The Cohansey River, also called Cohansey Creek, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in South Jersey.. The river drains approximately of rural agricu ...

, fronted the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

to the west. On 12 April 1677,

title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

to the ''Third Tenth'' was conveyed to a group of Irish Quakers, or Proprietors. The Third Tenth ran from Pennsauken Creek to

Big Timber Creek Big Timber Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 stream in southwestern New Jersey. The creek was called Tetamekanchz Kyl by Lenape tribes prior to Eu ...

. In deference to the Proprietors and the original settlers, the Third Tenth was called the ''Irish Tenth''. From the Irish Proprietors ''William Bates, carpenter, of the county of Wickloe'', and four

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

ers: Joseph Slight, Thomas Thackara, Robert Turner and Robert Zane each received a right to acreage. The amount of acreage was specified but the precise location would be selected by its owner upon arrival and subject to a survey.

Irish Tenth

On 19 September 1681, William Bates and a small group of

emigrant Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

s, including George Goldsmith, Mark Newbie, Thomas Sharp and Thomas Thackera, departed Dublin aboard ''Ye Owners Adventure'', Thomas Lurtin in command.Clement (1877), pp. 23-36 After reaching the Delaware Capes on 18 November, the voyagers made their final landing at Salem. Here they spent the winter in Fenwick's Colony, a fledgling settlement established in 1675 at Salem by a group of English Quakers under the leadership of John Fenwick.Shourds, Thomas (1876). ''History and genealogy of Fenwick's Colony, New Jersey''. Bridgeton, New Jersey. pp. 3-17 That winter, the five proprietors were joined by Robert Zane, who had been living in Fenwick's Colony since its founding, during a trip up the Delaware River to the Irish Tenth.Clement, John (1875). ''A sketch of the life and character of John Fenwick''. Published by Friends Historical Association. Philadelphia: Henry S. Volkmar. p.47 They focused their attention on the western part of the territory: The portion that was bounded by the east bank of the Delaware River, the south bank of Pennsauken Creek to the north, and the north bank of

to the south.Snyder, John Parr (1969). ''The story of New Jersey’s civil boundaries 1606-1968''. Trenton, NJ: Bureau of Geology and Topography, Bulletin 67. p.12 They all chose to exercise their rights by claiming land fronting the middle branch of Newton Creek, a tributary of the Delaware that formed three branches.Clement (1877), pp. 444-445 William Bates claimed 250 acres fronting the south bank in present-day Oaklyn. The others claimed five contiguous properties, totaling 1600 acres, fronting the north bank in present-day Collingswood.

Newton Colony

All of the children of William Bates married after they had emigrated to Newton Colony: Jeremiah wed Mary Spicer; Joseph married Mercy Clement in 1701; Abigail wed Joseph Fearne in 1687; William reportedly married a Native American female; and Sarah wed Simeon Ellis in 1692.

Notes

References

*Fisher, Sydney George (2006). ''The Quaker Colonies, a chronicle of the proprietors of the Delaware''. A transcription of the original publication was published by Hard Press, hardpress.net, 93 pages. * Greaves, Richard L. (1998). ''Dublin's Merchant-Quaker: Anthony Sharp and the community of Friends, 1643-1707''. Stanford, Ca.: Stanford University Press. * Stewart, Frank H. (ed.) (1942). ''Gloucester County under the proprietors''. Woodbury, New Jersey: reprinted by the Gloucester County Historical Society. * ''West Jersey Proprietors'' (1964). Burlington, New Jersey: Revell Press.

External links

"William Bates - a builder of freedom" by Carol Ann Lang
An unreferenced article courtesy of ''The Bates Bulletin'', Spring 1999, p. 90 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, William Year of birth unknown 1700 deaths 17th-century Irish people People from County Wicklow Converts to Quakerism Irish Quakers Irish emigrants to the Thirteen Colonies People of colonial New Jersey People from Oaklyn, New Jersey