[5] A merchant and a banker, in 1828 Bates became associated with the great house of Baring Brothers & Co. of London, of which he eventually became the senior partner.

He was arbitrator of the commission convened in 1853 to settle the claims of American citizens arising from the War of 1812.

[6] As a patron of the arts he commissioned canvases from Thomas Cole, including a nostalgic view of Boston,[7] for his house in Portland Place.

He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery in the London Borough of Brent in England.

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was the grandfather of seven, including Eleanor Van de Weyer, who married Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher (their daughter, Sylvia Brett, married Charles Vyner de Windt Brooke, and became the last Rani of Sarawak);[11] Alice Emma Sturgis van de Weyer, married the Hon.