BATES, William Stanley (1872-1949) was born in Yorkshire, Engl. and served an apprenticeship from 1891 until 1894 with Henry Young, an architect in Bedford, England. He assisted in the office of John Slater in Clapton until 1897 and then moved to London. The following year he received an Award of Merit in the R.I.B.A. Grissel Medal Competition for his design for a Small Timber Church. His drawings, submitted under the pseudonym "By Lamplight" were commended by the Jury as "..a good piece of timber construction, and well proportioned" (Architect & Contract Reporter [London], lix, 28 Jan. 1898, 63, descrip.), and were later published with illustrated plates in The Builder [London], lxxv, 16 July 1898, 61, illus. & descrip. In 1900 Bates left London for Liverpool where he met Gilbert Hodgson, and both young architects 'worked together for three years in the office of the City Architect of Liverpool' (R.I.B.A. London, inf. from the Application Form submitted by Gilbert Hodgson dated 23 March 1912). Bates then emigrated to Canada in 1904, followed shortly after by Hodgson, and they took up residence in Calgary where they formed a partnership with James L. Wilson (see list of works under Wilson, Hodgson & Bates). In 1906 Wilson left that office, and Bates began his own practice in partnership with his colleague from Liverpool. Their talents were sought after by some of the leading citizens of Calgary including Patrick Burns, Senator James L. Lougheed, and Judson Sayre. They were commissioned to design important landmarks such as the Grain Exchange, the Burns Building, and the Beveridge Block, as well as many substantial private residences in a decidedly Edwardian style (see list of works under Hodgson & Bates).
In 1916 Bates opened an office under his own name and remained as a sole practitioner in Calgary until his death in 1949. Many of his designs were commissioned by the Roman Catholic and the Anglican Dioceses in that city. His most ambitious scheme (never realized) was a proposal for the completion of the Anglican Pro-Cathedral in 1935. A collection of his surviving drawings reveal him to be an adept and competent ecclesiastical designer who favoured the Gothic Revival style. Bates died in Calgary on 9 February 1949, and his son Maxwell B. Bates continued the practice (obituary in the Calgary Herald, 9 Feb. 1949, 13; Albertan [Calgary], 10 Feb. 1949, 14; inf. Directory of British Architects 1834-1914, 2001, i, 133). An essay on his work, prepared by Patricia Jasen, can be found in the Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, xiii, March 1988, 15-19, illus. The Glenbow Museum at Calgary, Alta. holds a collection of architectural drawings prepared by Bates during the period from 1906 to 1915 when he was in partnership with Gilbert Hodgson, Ernest N. Butler and Owen K. Beattie, and from 1916 until 1949 when he practiced under his own name.
Willliam S. BATES (works in Calgary)
MACKIE BLOCK, 8th Avenue West near 2nd Street, for James S. Mackie, 1916 (C.R., xxx, 5 July 1916, 45)
LANCASTER BUILDING, 8th Avenue West at 2nd Street, 1916 (Daily Herald [Calgary], 25 July 1916, 3, t.c.; dwgs. at Canadian Architectural Archives, Calgary, Ste hc/19L 342)
ROBIN HOOD FLOUR MILLS LTD., 9th Avenue at 4th Street West, office block, 1916 (Daily Herald [Calgary], 27 Sept. 1916, 4, t.c.)
8th AVENUE EAST, near 13th Street, residence for Rev. Alec McTaggart, 1916 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
MOUNT ROYAL, residence for Frederick E. Osborne, 7th Street West at 22nd Avenue, 1919 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
CRANE LTD., 11th Avenue West at 5th Street, warehouse, 1919-20 (Daily Herald [Calgary], 7 Oct. 1919, 6, t.c.; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
CANADIAN FAIRBANKS MORSE CO., 8th Avenue West, warehouse, 1920 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVENT, 19th Avenue West near 1st Street West, a large 3 storey addition, 1924; and major additions, 1947 (C.R., xxxviii, 2 July 1924, 52, t.c.; Calgary Herald, 30 July 1924, 6, descrip.; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
ROYAL TRUST CO., 1st STREET WEST, near 8th Avenue West, a bank branch, ":...adjoining the Bank of Montreal", 1924 (Calgary Herald, 2 Oct. 1924, 10, descrip.)
HOLLINGSWORTH & CO LTD., 8th Avenue at 2nd Street, major alterations to ground floor of the Canada Life Building for a new retail dry goods store, for George H. Stewart, 1925 (Calgary Herald, 9 Sept. 1925, 7, illus. & descrip.)
11th STREET WEST, at 17th Avenue, residence for James E. Varley, 1926 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
PREMIER MOTORS LTD., 7th Avenue West at 2nd Street, a large two storey auto dealership and garage, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 29 June 1927, 56; Calgary Herald, 27 Sept. 1928, 18, 19 & 23, illus. and extensive descrip.)
ST. MARY'S ROMAN CATHOLIC BOY'S SCHOOL, 2nd Street West at 18th Avenue, 1926-27 (Calgary Herald, 16 Dec. 1926, 11, descrip.; and 26 Feb. 1927, 5, t.c.; and 31 Oct. 1927, 10, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
ROXBORO BUILDING, 4th Street West at 26th Avenue, extensive alterations to old 3 storey block originally called The Albion Hotel, and later the Elbow View Hotel, for C.S. Henley, with 7 new retail stores, 1927 (Calgary Herald, 15 March 1927, 15, illus. & descrip.)
CALGARY ALBERTAN PUBLISHING CO., 2nd Street West at 9th Avenue, newspaper office and printing plant, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 27 June 1928, 66; Winnipeg Tribune, 11 Aug. 1928, 2, illus. & descrip.)
HOLY CROSS ROMAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL, 2nd Street West at 22nd Avenue, major addition of North Wing and a new chapel, 1928 (Calgary Herald, 20 April 1928, 13, descrip.; and 23 March 1929, Supplement, p. 1, illus. & descrip.; and 1 April 1929, 8, illus. & descrip.; Canadian Hotel Review[Toronto], iv, May 1928, 90; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
LANGMAN BLOCK, 8th Avenue West at 3rd Street West, extensive alterations to the former Glanville Building, built 1912, with new stores and offices, 1928 (Calgary Herald, 7 Dec. 1928, 26, descrip.)
RANNARD SHOE STORE, on the ground floor of the Canada Life Building, interiors of retail store, 1929 (Calgary Herald, 2 April 1929, 10, descrip.)
HOLY ANGELS ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL, Cliff Street West at Royal Avenue S.W., major addition, 1929 (Calgary Herald, 10 April 1929, 13)
LAWRENCE LODGE, 7th Avenue West near 7th Street, for W.D. Lundy, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 26 June 1929, 63; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
SOMERSET CORNER BLOCK, 4th Street West, south from the lane separating 7th Avenue and 8th Avenue, a one storey commercial block for Sir John Langman, 1930 (Calgary Herald, 20 Aug. 1930, 9)
SACRED HEART ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH & RECTORY, 14th Street West at 13th Avenue, 1930 (Calgary Herald, 13 March 1930, 8, descrip.; and 22 April 1961, 32, illus.; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
TOOLE-PEET & CO., 2nd Street West at 8th Avenue, addition of a new storey above the existing building, 1930 (Calgary Herald, 27 March 1930, 13, descrip.; dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
ANGLICAN PRO-CATHEDRAL, 7th Avenue at 1st Street East, addition of Tomkins Memorial Chapel, 1935 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
CRESCENT ROAD, at 6th Street, residence for R. Harold Jenkins, 1933 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
R.C.M.P. BARRACKS, a new residence hall, Mess Hall, and Married Couples Residence building, for the federal Dept. of Public Works, 1935 (Calgary Herald, 12 March 1935, 2)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, 19th Avenue N.W. at 6th Street N.W., 1946 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
BOWNESS PUBLIC SCHOOL, Bowness Road, 1946 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
CRESCENT HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHURCH, 1st Street N.W. near 12th Avenue, new tower and choir room, 1947 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
William S. BATES (works elsewhere in Alberta)
CROSSFIELD, ALTA., Imperial Bank, 1920 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)
BELLEVUE, ALTA., public school, 1923 (dwgs. at Canadian Architectural Archives, Univ. of Calgary)
BROOKS, ALTA., public school, 1924 (Calgary Herald, 11 July 1924, 4, t.c.)
IRRICANA, ALTA., public school, 1925 (Calgary Herald, 7 Aug. 1925, 4, t.c.)
VULCAN, ALTA., public school, 1925 (Calgary Herald, 12 Aug. 1925, 7, t.c.)
CARDSTON, ALTA., public school, 1926 (Calgary Herald, 22 July 1926, 13, t.c.)
BOWNESS, ALTA., St. Edmund's Anglican Church, 1948 (dwgs. at Glenbow Museum)