Ronald Hamilton Bates and his sister Jean

Diary, Life in Australia, Memories, Old Age 2 Minutes

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Jean Marion Loneragan nee Bates

A wonderful Person & Pianist –  Rest in Peace

 

Ron and Jean’s mother was Lola May Bates.

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We knew that all three of them had Urn places at the cemetery near Sutherland Station. We had gone to the chapel of that cemetery for Ron’s funeral service. We had talked Gaby into coming with us for the funeral. She reluctantly agreed. She apparently did not want to be reminded of anyone dying. This was in May 1997. Jean was at Ron’s funeral of course. She already lived in a Nursing Home at the time and looked very frail. We thought she would not live much longer. However she lived quite a few more years. We only heard about her death after her funeral in 2002. I think Gaby was able to tell us eventually about  Jean having died,  for Gaby had contact with people who had contact with Jean. So then we decided to have a look to find their urn places at the cemetery. In the cemetery’s office we were advised about the exact location. It turned out there were memorial stones of all three of them in the rose garden.

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http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=957554

 

These records are at the State Library of NSW. It says in the records amongst other things the following:

“Jean Marion Bates was a granddaughter of Daisy Bates”
“Includes birth and marriage certificates for Lola May Bates, nee Davidson, her daughter Jean Marion Bates, 1916, and a certificate of an entry in Register of Marriages, Arnold Hamilton Bates to Lola May Davidson, 1913. A newscutting announces the marriage of Jean Bates to Frank Loneragan. A letter from Lola May Bates to Ronald Bates, 1966”

I remember Ron telling us that he once went to Adelaide when his grandmother, Daisy, was in her eighties. He tried to talk to her, but he got the impression that she was not quite aware who he really was. He said he felt he could not communicate with her properly. Apparently he left it too late to see her.

Here is something about the Bates family that I must have copied from a newspaper article many years ago. Sorry, I have no idea which newspaper it might have been in:

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Peter recently published in his blog some of the drawings that Ron Bates liked to do on little cards:

Ron Bates

I found in the meantime quite a few more of these cards that Ron had given to Gaby. We kept all these cards after Gaby’s death. Peter reckons they belong to us now. He says if we publish them we have to say that we copy-rights.

But here I publish one card that Jean and Ron gave us on the 5th of April 1986 at Sydney Airport on the occasion of our departure for a trip to Germany.

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Published by auntyuta

Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Mother and Wife of German Descent I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com

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7 thoughts on “Ronald Hamilton Bates and his sister Jean”

  1. Hello, my name is Edward Taylor. I am currently researching my family history, and was delighted to come across your blog and the articles on Jean and Ronald Bates. My grandfather is their grandmother’s brother, so I guess I am their second cousin. Sadly I never knew them.
    You mentioned you knew the mother, Lola Bates. Are you aware of any photographs of her? I am able to use the photos you had taken at the airport, thank you.
    Would appreciate any assistance you may offer.
    Yours, sincerely, Edward Taylor
    P.S. Hope you receive this message.

    Reply

    1. Hi Edward 

      My dad was very close to both Ron and Jean, he viewed them both as family and I grew up seeing them as grandparents though neither of them had children. He has recently moved into a nursing home and while going through and packing away his things I have come across a heap of old family photos that were passed onto him (from 1800s onwards). If you are able to send me your email I’m happy to send you some pictures of them – though I’m not too sure who some of them are (I did see the name Taylor in there). Hopefully you are still working on your family tree it would be nice to share them with someone from their family. 

      Reply

      2. Hello Jemima, how wonderful to come across your post on Ron and Jean Bates. Your contact is the closest I have to someone knowing of them. My Aunt who lived in Sydney spoke of Jean when I was a teenager and boarding with her, apparently Jean would visit on occasions and the family would gather for sing songs around the piano. My Aunt passed many years ago.

        Our family held a reunion at Nundle in 2021, where our ancestors moved to from the UK. I would really appreciate any photos you may have of Jean and Ron. The only photo I have is of Jean’s mother Lola (have not been able to confirm that as yet).

        Thank you again for your post.

        Kindest regards, Edward Taylor

        Email: tayblanche@bigpond.com

      1. Hello Edward, thank you so much for writing again. I hope I’ll be able to give you a longer response in the near future.

        Sincerely, Uta Hannemann 😊

        auntyuta.com

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