- Joshua Bates (financier)
:seealso|Joshua Bates "for the clergyman and educator and
Joshua Hall Bates for theAmerican Civil War general." Joshua Bates (1788-1864) was an internationalfinancier who divided his life between theUnited States and theUnited Kingdom .Bates was born in
Weymouth, Massachusetts . A merchant and a banker, in 1828 he became associated with the great house of Baring Brothers Co. ofLondon , of which he eventually became the senior partner. He became a British citizen in 1842. He was arbitrator of the commission convened in 1853 to settle the claims of American citizens arising from theWar of 1812 . In 1852 he founded theBoston Public Library by giving $50,000 for that purpose, with the provision that the interest of the money should be expended for books of permanent value, and that the city should make adequate provision for at least 100 readers. He afterward gave 30,000 volumes to the institution, the main hall of which is named after him.His daughter Elizabeth's granddaughter,
Sylvia Brett , was the lastRani ofSarawak .Publications
* "Memorial of Joshua Bates" (Boston, 1865)
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