John Bate of Liverpool, England and Ontario, Canada
John Bate's older sister, Rebecca (Bate) Buck, was my great-great-grandmother. I have found a baptism record that I believe belongs to this John in St. Peter's Church in Liverpool, England. He was baptized on June 22, 1842, but there is a note in the margin giving his birth date as August 29, 1837. His parents were listed as William and Catherine Bate, and William's occupation was mariner. In the 1841 England census, John was living with his family in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, and was listed as age 4. See William and Catherine (Cottier) Bate for more information.
By the time of the 1851 census, the Bate family had moved to what is now Ontario, Canada, and were living in Ernestown Township, Addington County. They were living on the land which had been deeded to Catherine (Cottier) Bate and her parents by their relative William Cottier in 1810: the north half of lot 17 on the first concession. See Daniel and Catherine (Egan/Higgin, Churchill) Cottier for more information. John Bate, listed as J. Bate, was 13 in that census. In the 1861 census he was still with his family in Ernestown Township (page 12), but was listed as age 31, which had to be an error. It appears that his parents had died by 1871 as John was head of the household for that census, still in Ernestown (page 36). His married sister Catherine Henderson and her family were living with him. He was 34. By the time of the 1881 census (page 1) he was living alone, and was age 43. It appears that he took over the family land when his parents died. In the "Illustrated historical atlas of the counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Ontario" from 1878, there is a J. Bates on a 40-acre piece in the north half of lot 17 on the first concession of Ernestown Township. That must have been John. At some point before this, the other 60 acres of the north half had been sold to a D. Bowman, according to the map.
I haven't yet found John in the 1891 census. There is a death record for him in the Ontario death records database on http://www.ancestry.ca. However, he is indexed there as John "Bules." He died on Dec. 9, 1892.
John's occupation was given as farmer for both the 1871 and 1881 censuses. There is no sign that he ever married or had children. I don't know where he was buried and it seems likely that there was no stone for him.