William Leist Readwin Cates (12 November 1821 – 9 December 1895) was an English lawyer and compiler of reference works.

Life

The eldest son of Robert Gates, a solicitor of

Fakenham Fakenham is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is situated on the River Wensum, about north-west of Norwich. The town is at the junction of several local roads, including the A148 from King's Lynn to Cromer, the A1067 to N ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, and his wife, Mary Ann Readwin, was born there on 12 November 1821. He was educated for the law under a private tutor, and after passing his examinations at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

went to

Chatteris Chatteris () is a market town and civil parish in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, England, situated in the Fens between Huntingdon, March and Ely. The town is in the North East Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency. The parish o ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. He subsequently moved to

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

for about a year, but, failing to establish a practice, took an appointment in 1844 as articled clerk to John Barfield, a solicitor at

Thatcham Thatcham is a market town and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It is situated in the valley of the River Kennet east of Newbury, Berkshire, Newbury, west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading and west of London. The town has a long history d ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. Cates abandoned the legal profession, first for private tuition, and then to write. In 1848 he was at

Wilmslow Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is south of Manchester. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the parish had a population of 26,213 and the built up area had a p ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, and some years later at

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburb of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of ...

, near Manchester. In 1860 he moved to London, in order to co-operate with his friend

Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward (2 May 1816 – 12 October 1869) was an English nonconformist minister, antiquarian, and Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle. Life The eldest son of Samuel Woodward the geologist, he was born at Norwich on 2 May 181 ...

. Failing health compelled Cates to leave London in September 1887 for

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

, near

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, where he died on 9 December 1895.

Works

Cates and Woodward wrote the ''Encyclopædia of Chronology'' (1872). Cates also wrote: * ''Early poems and prose'' (1843) * ''The Pocket Date Book'', London, 1863, which had a second edition * ''Dictionary of General Biography'' (London, 1867; 3rd ed. 1880) * ''History of England from the Death of Edward the Confessor to the Death of King John'', London, 1874 He edited and largely re-wrote ''

The Biographical Treasury ''The Biographical Treasury, a dictionary of universal biography'' (London, 1854) was a reference book written and published by British author Samuel Maunder. It reached a 13th edition in 1866, when it was rewritten by William Leist Readwin Cate ...

'' by Samuel Maunder in its 13th edition (1866), superintending the 14th edition in 1873 and a subsequent one in 1882. He also translated and edited vols. vi. to viii. of

Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné (16 August 179421 October 1872) was a Swiss Protestant minister and historian of the Reformation. Life Jean-Henri Merle d'Aubigné was born at , a neighbourhood of Geneva. A street in the area is named after him. The ...

's ''History of the Reformation in Europe in the Time of Calvin'', London, 1875-8. He contributed the article "Chronology" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Family

On 25 July 1845 Cates married Catherine, daughter of Aquila Robins of

Holt, Norfolk Holt is a market town and civil parish in the county of Norfolk, England. The town is north of the city of Norwich, west of Cromer and east of King's Lynn. The town has a population of 3,550, rising and including the ward to 3,810 at the 201 ...

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cates, William Leist Readwin 1821 births 1895 deaths Writers from Norfolk People from Fakenham 19th-century English lawyers 19th-century English writers