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Davenport History
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Frederick Davenport Bates
Introduction
While working on our page about Davenport artist James Patchell Chettle, I contacted Stockport Council's collections manager, Bronwen Simpson, about Chettle works in Stockport's collection. She very kindly directed me to the Public Catalogue Foundation / BBC project to publish on the Web publicly-owned oil paintings, where several Chettles can now be viewed.
While browsing this superb resource, I came across the name of Frederick Davenport Bates, who painted three portraits of local citizens now owned by Stockport.
Investigating further, I found that the man's birth name was Frederick Bates, and he added the middle name Davenport from the area where he lived and worked, probably for professional reasons to distinguish him from another artist of the same name.
Frederick Davenport Bates: Sheep grazing on a mountain pathway
Very little has been written about him, although some of his works can be discovered through websites which record auction activities. However, by tracking his life on the Ancestry website I was able to locate in Stockport Local Studies library a detailed obituary published in the Stockport Advertiser, on which most of this feature is based.
Frederick Davenport Bates: Young girl on a bench (1896)
Any further information about his life and work would be very welcome.
Portraits in Stockport's Collection
(Visit the Your Paintings site for larger versions)
Gentleman (name unknown) - any ideas?
Frank Brown, J.P. and councillor for Cale Green Ward
Alderman William Lees, J.P.
Any copyright holder objecting to the use of the images on this page should contact us and they will be removed.
Contributions are very welcome at at info@davenportstation.org.uk
Frederick Davenport Bates: Painter and Traveller
Frederick Davenport Bates: Afternoon in the Garden
Frederick Bates was born in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester in 1867. His father was Peter Bates, at that time a corn dealer; his mother Mary was Mary Rawstron in Stockport. Peter Bates gave his birthplace as 'Furness, Cheshire' - the village now known as Furness Vale, now part of the High Peak district of Derbyshire.
Frederick was the youngest of the family; he had four older sisters, Annie, Mary, Emily and Elizabeth (later known as Lilly or Lily). In the 1850s the family had lived in Stockport, and soon after Frederick's birth they moved back here, settling at 33 Thomson Street, near the Infirmary, by 1871. By this time Peter had progressed from corn dealer to accountant: an 1874 directory lists him as 'accountant, house, land and commission agent' with an office at 12 Vernon Street and a home at 94 Wellington Road South, Stockport. Peter died in 1880; the family remained in the small house at no. 94, three doors down from the Nelson Tavern. (The house longer exists, a modern building not stands on the site.) Frederick found employment as a clerk in a printing works.
Travels
The 1891 census lists Mary, 'living on own means' with Emily (aged 32), Mary jr. (aged 35), and Elizabeth (entered as Lily, aged 26) at 62 Bramhall Lane in Cale Green. Frederick does not feature in the 1891 census at all: he was away following his ambition as an artist. At the age of 16 he had exhibited a painting at Manchester Art Gallery, and as soon as he could, perhaps with the help of an inheritance from his father, he was off to Paris to learn the painters trade in the 'ateliers of the "Boul Mich" - the Boulevard St.Michel. He became a student at the Academie Julian - an independent school no entrance exams and with nominal fees - where he was taught by Adolphe William Bouguereau, Tony Robert-Fleury, and Gabriel Ferrier.
He then moved to Antwerp where, under the influence of the Flemish tradition, he developed the ideas for his religious paintings, notably 'The Passing of Christ.' He won a prize of the Belgian Academy of Fine Arts, entitling him to the use of a studio and a choice of two professors from the Academy as tutors. He chose Albrecht de Vriendt, who was court painter to King Leopold, and Pierre Jan Van de Ouderaa, with a view to becoming a portrait specialist.
Established as an artist, he embarked on travels to the Middle East, North Africa and the Holy Land, sometimes accompanying John Foster Fraser (1868 - 1936), a journalist and traveller who write some remarkable books, including Round the World on a Wheel (1899) an account of a round the world cycling journey with two friends.
Bates does not feature in this or other Fraser books, but apparently he did illustrate some of his magazine articles. He certainly made many sketches on his journeys which he later worked up into large oils, notably the spectacular evening view (above) of 'Constantinople', painted in 1896, which measures five feet across, and sold at auction in 2008 for £49,250.
Life in Stockport
Back in Stockport, in 1899 he married Catherine Grantham Shepherd, daughter of a Mechanical Engineer, James Shepherd, of 'Shirdfold', The Crescent, Davenport, and his wife Elizabeth. They set up home at 9 Mile End Lane, on the other side of the main road from the main part of Davenport; by the 1930s they had moved further up the lane to no. 73, which they named 'Grantham Gate' after Catherine's middle name. Both houses date from the 1890s. Could 'Afternoon in the Garden' have been painted there? They had one child, Lilian Khadder Bates, who married Frank Beal in 1924. Away from his painting, Frederick was one of he founders of the Stockport Literary Club, and had a keen interest in the work of the Stockport Lads' Club.
From sketches made on his his Holy Land journey came two large religious works, 'Christ or Barabbas' and 'The Passing of Christ' with his friends and relations acting as models. 'Christ or Barabbas' was purchased by Mr Frank Brown J.P. of Stockport (himself the subject of a Bates portrait) who before his death is reported to have presented it to The Salvation Army in Manchester.
'The Passing of Christ' was purchased by a syndicate who showed it around 'most of the cities and towns of the country' before finally selling it to Samuel Rigby, of 'Bramall Mount', Davenport (see our feature Postcard No.2), who is said to have hung it in his warehouse at the Spring Bank Mill, Wellington Road South, before presenting it in 1934 to Stockport Corporation, who, according to the newspaper obituary, displayed it in Woodbank Park. The park, along with its Hall, had been given to Stockport in the early 1920s by Sir Thomas Rowbotham. After standing empty for some time, in 1931 the Hall was opened to the public in 1931 as a "Museum of Rural Life & Fine Art" with reading room, lecture room and tea room. This lasted only until 1948, however, and the Hall is now used by Stockport Council as offices, having been under threat of sale to private developers. The painting may have been moved to the nearby Vernon Park museum - we are endeavouring to find out.
Frederick Davenport Bates was more than just a painter of portraits and religious scenes, however. He also turned his hand to popular landscape works such as the pleasant study of Marple Locks seen above. His 1901 census entry mentions 'sculptor' as well as 'painter' - but we have not been able to discover records of any sculptures.
Known portraits by Bates include William Lees (see left), Frank Brown (left), Judge Leigh, (painted to mark the Judge's jubilee as a teacher of the Stockport Sunday School), Mr William B. Leigh, and Mr J.A, Fletcher, formerly secretary of the Stockport Lads' Club. His last subject was Mr William Crossley of the Stockport Sunday School.
Last years
After two years' illness, Frederick Davenport Bates died at his home, 73 Mile End Lane, in the early hours of 17 July 1943 (contrary to several sources which give his dates as 1867-1930). Among those in attendance at Stockport crematorium was Mrs W.E. Clucas, of 'Reinbek', Bramhall Lane - subject of another feature on our website.
Described in his obituary (Stockport Advertiser, 23 July 1943) as a 'well-known local artist', his life and work now appear to have been forgotten in the place where he lived for over 75 years: perhaps this article will go some way towards bringing him back to attention.
Written by Charlie Hulme, October 2011.
Comments welcome at info@davenportstation.org.uk