Walter Bates
Walter Bates (14 March 1760 – 11 February 1842) was an American who, through actions of his family and himself, came to Nova Scotia to live under British rule.
Bates was born on a farm in eastern Connecticut and may have stayed there except for the activities of his elder brothers on the Tory side of the American War of Independence. That situation forced him to shelter himself among the British sympathizers on Long Island where he taught school. In 1783, he accepted a British offer of 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land in Nova Scotia plus two years’ supplies and transportation to his new homestead at Kingston. He was part of the first contingent of settlers who sailed in that year. The ship was the Union (ship) and he later wrote of his experiences.
References
- "Walter Bates". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.