Sir William Henry Coates (31 May 1882 – 7 February 1963) was a British civil servant and businessman who worked principally for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI)."COATES, Sir William (Henry)"
''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007

Early years

Born in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, Cheshire, he was the son of T. Mallalieu Coates MRCVS and his wife, Esther Tough. He was educated at

Loughborough Grammar School , religion = Christian , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dr Daniel Koch , r_head_label = Chaplain , r_head = Revd E J York , chair_label = Chairman ...

, before entering the Civil Service.James Donnelly,
Coates, Sir William Henry (1882–1963)
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, 2004

Career

He worked in the War Office (1900–1904), the Tax Inspectorate (1904–19), and at the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

(1919–1925). In 1925, he succeeded Josiah Stamp as company secretary of Nobel Industries, which was one of the four companies that merged to form ICI in 1926. He was treasurer of ICI from 1927 to 1929, and a director from 1929 until his retirement in 1950. He was made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

in 1947.

Death

He died in 1963 at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, William Henry Knights Bachelor 1882 births 1963 deaths People educated at Loughborough Grammar School People from Runcorn