Faraday to Edward Sabine   30 November 1854

Mr: Bate himself (Mr B Bate as above)1 gave me to understand that his sisters were not poor2 or rather that his father left large sums of money to the survivors - but that would make no difference to me in anything I could do with propriety. But I cannot undertake to certify to accounts upon the evidence of private notes & papers regarding time &c of which at the time I had no knowledge. All I know is that Mr Bate was employed & as far as I am aware has never been paid3.

(signed) M.F. 30 Novr: 1854.

1
The parentheses were inserted by Bate into the copy.
2
The following note was inserted by Bate at this point: “N.B. this remark was occasioned by an explanation which I felt called up to make to Dr. Faraday, being surprized to find him under an impression that my father’s estate was involved in bankruptcy | B. Bate.”
3
The letter refers to Bate’s continued pursuit for payment for the work done by his father (Robert Brettel Bate (1782-1847, DNBmp), scientific instrument maker in the Poultry, London) for the Royal Society Excise Committee, of which Faraday had been a member, in the 1830s. See letter 2301, McConnell (1993), 54-6, RS CM 15 June 1854, 2: 288-9 and 26 October 1854, 2: 294.

Bibliography

McCONNELL, Anita (1993): R.B. Bate of the Poultry: The Life and Times of a Scientific Instrument Maker, Pershore.

Please cite as “Faraday2922,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 29 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday2922