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Thanks Newbury Chap! (I don't check threads very often either ...)

I've also been pointed to a useful site - the BHS project. This has a list of grades of Excise Officer, which seems as though you might have had something to do with it: thanks for this too, if so.

By 1814 my William Bate is described in his aunt Ann Bate's will as a Supervisor, of Ratcliff Highway, so presumably he is working his way up the careerladder. Though from what I can gather Ratcliff Highway was a not very salubrious part of the East End. I'm a bit daunted by the prospect of trawling through all the minute books at Kew, but that seems to be the only way forward - I can't find any unambiguous record of him after 1814. Hey ho.

Scranpot

Many thanks for all this! You are kind, and clearly have research skills years beyond mine ... I'd assumed that William and Lucy must have got married in Wolverhampton, but of course there's not logical reason why (and you'd have thought, after you found that William John Bate and Ann Lucas had got married in Birmingham it might have occurred to me to look ...)

I might leave the Bate family alone for a bit and have a go at my Scottish ancestors. Though one of my Bates, Thomas son of William John the linguist, moved to Cannock and it has been very confusing researching him because there are lots of Bates in Cannock (presumably yours!)

Thanks again.

Scranpot

Hi Newbury Chap

I've just found your posts about Excise Officers, and wonder if you could suggest how I could take forward my research?

I'm trying to find out about William Bate, who was named as an Officer of Excise, of London, in his father John Bate's will dated 1796. I found a reference to a William Bate in the National Archives Customs index as entering the service in 1836 - too late for my William Bate, but I thought he might be a relation and I was in London anyway so I visited TNA to look him up. (I completely relate to your 'three documents at a time' frustration!)

He doesn't seem to have been a relation of my William Bate, however, and one of the advisers there said I probably wouldn't find any relevant records as early as the 1790s: but there are references in your posts to Officers of Excise much earlier than the 1790s. Can you advise where I might pursue my search?

The other slightly confusing thing about my William Bate being an Officer of Excise is that the evidence indicates that he was a Catholic, and I thought Catholics were barred from public office until the 1820s ...

Scranpot

Ciderdrinker, can you tell me where you found the Hannah Bate/John Toovey marriage in 1788? Usually I can find marriages on IGI but not this one ...

Fran

What a haul! Many thanks for all this info, I really do think you are a star sleuth! Will follow these up when I can, so many interesting leads. Much more interesting than packing parcels and writing cards ...

Fancy John Toovey's name being mispelled in John Bate's will - I wonder if his and Hannah's son James Tovey is really the John Bate Toovey you have found? (Oh no he can't be, the will is dated 1796 and John Bate Toovey was born in 1799.)

Again, if it's OK with you I will put what you have found on ancestry and see if it throws up any links?

The London Bate brothers - I did do some digging in the trade directories at the Westminster Archive, and found three entries for someone called William Bate - one in Holden's Triennial 1805-06, a 'taylor and salesman' of 2 Monmouth Street, St Giles; and two in Holden's 1811 - a 'salesman' in 2 Monmouth Street, again, and a 'painter in enamels to Her Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth' of 52 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square: neither of these sounds much like an Officer of Excise! And I couldn't find a Michael Bate at all.

The possible baptism at St Peter's Wolverhampton in 1728 - the font at St Peter's dates back to about 1480, must have a look next time! ( I do need to spend more time in Wolverhampton ...)

Fran