Francis Marion Bates, was born in 1835 in Boston, Massachusetts; the son of John and Hanna Bates. After his birth the family moved from Massachusetts to the southern United States.

Bates was working for the Revenue Department of the Public Service when Mr. W.H. Fleming took notice of his acting qualities and gave him a chance to begin a stage career. Bates continued a slow upward progress on stage, largely in the west, but a few years before the Civil War broke out, he began performing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Being in the city of Norfolk, Virginia Bates enlisted as a Private into the Confederate Army, Company “E”, 3rd Georgia Infantry Regiment on June 6, 1861. Francis M. Bates was discharged on August 15, 1862 and subsequently returned to performing on the theatre stage; the Richmond Daily Dispatch showed him performing on stage on October 13, 1862. Other newspapers in Richmond, Virginia and Augusta, Georgia during the American Civil War show Bates, as well as Eliza Wren, performing in the eastern states during the war years.

In November 1863, Francis Marion Bates married Eliza Wren, from Virginia, at Wilmington, North Carolina; and the two continued their stage careers until the end of the war. After the war they performed in many states, including Texas, New York, and later in San Francisco, California. Their first child, Blanche, born prior to their migrating to Australia in mid-1873, became an actress as well.

The Bates family migrated to Australia in 1873, arriving in Melbourne, Victoria from San Francisco, California aboard the barque Cesarewitch, on July 22, 1873. Accompanying them was Eliza Bates sister, Alice Wren, who was also an actress, and who performed on stage in Australia. Francis and Eliuza continued their acting careers by performing in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and in New Zealand. They even performed a skit on the American Civil War, entitled “Check and Counter Check”, falling back on Bates experiences in the war. While in Australia their second daughter Eleanor was born, around 1876. Most of the time Francis and Eliza lived in Sydney, New South Wales at 553 Bourke Street, but at the time of his death Francis was in Melbourne, Victoria. However, Francis Bates in late 1877 had also been the lessee and manager of the Queensland Theatre, in Brisbane, Queensland.

In June 1879, Bates had left his home in Sydney to give a performance in Melbourne on the morning of June 27, 1879 but he never arrived. His body was later found in a gully on Flemington Road, Melbourne, where it was thought he had been robbed of the jewelry, which he always wore. Several witnesses had indicated that on the evening prior to his body being found, Bates had been followed by a stranger, was advised of this fact, but he failed to heed their warnings. A man was subsequently arrested on suspicion, but was only charged with vagrancy. At an inquest in early July, however, it was decided his death had occurred due to a possible fall from an embankment; as there were no signs of a struggle or of his having been attacked.

The inquest determined that the cause of his death was a disease of the heart and lungs, accelerated by a fall. Francis Marion Bates was buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery on July 2, 1879, in the Church of England Section W Grave # 569, registration number 8418. His obituary in the newspaper regarding his death stated that Bates had in fact participated in the ‘Seven Days Campaign’ during the American Civil War; and the history of the 3rd Georgia Infantry does show that it was involved in that campaign and other battles around Richmond, Virginia as well.


Muster Roll Card 1	Muster Roll Card 2	Bates, F.M., 3rd Ga. Inf.- CWDS

Bates, F. M., Service Record, S&S	Bates Unassisted Immigration to Victoria, Courtesy of John Stewart	Special Orders 280, Dissolvement of the Legion

Death notice of F.M.Bates	Twn & Country Journal, May 30, 1874	Shipping Intelligence

Eliza Wren Bates	Francis Marion Bates, Headstone	Melbourne, Victoria location map