Mark Bate First Mayor of Nanaimo, British Columbia Mark Bate Sr. was the first Mayor of Nanaimo, British Columbia. He was born in England and emigrated with Elizabeth Bate in January of 1857.

Mark Bate was born in 1837 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Thomas Bate.

Thomas Bate, born about 1895, father of Mark Bate

Mark's mother was Elizabeth Robinson, born 1805, in Dudley, Worcestershire, the daughter of Joseph Robinson and Esther Shakespeare. He married twice. His first wife was Sarah Ann Cartwright, who he married in 1859 in Nanaimo. Together they had 10 children.

Mark was one of a group of miners and their families, who had been recruited in and around Brierley Hill by his relative George Robinson.

Mark Bate was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England on December 11, 1837. In 1856, he left England on the barque "Princess Royal" with his aunt Maria Robinson, his sister Elizabeth Bate and his cousin Cornelius Bryant. The group traveled from Victoria to Nanaimo on the Recovery", arriving in 1857. Bate was employed as a clerk for the Hudson's Bay Company and later as accountant and cashier. The Hudson's Bay Company sold their interests to the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company in 1862; Bate assumed the position of Manager for the new company in 1869. He held this post until 1884 when he became Office Manager and Samuel Robins became the Superintendent. In 1886, Bate was appointed the Government Agent for the District of Nanaimo, remaining in this post until he retired in 1913. Bate was very active in community affairs. In 1875, he was elected Nanaimo's first mayor and served an additional 15 1-year terms (1876-1879, 1881-1886, 1888-1889, 1898-1900). In 1873, he became Nanaimo's first Justice of the Peace. In 1875, he was appointed by Marine and Fisheries Canada to the Pilotage Authority for British Columbia and in 1879, he was appointed to the separate Pilotage Authority for the Port of Nanaimo. He was the first Chairman of the Board of Education in 1865, president of the Nanaimo Literary Institute for many years, president and conductor of the Nanaimo Brass Band, government appointee to the Hospital Board and a member of numerous organizations including Ashlar Lodge, No. 3., Ancient Order of Foresters, Oddfellows, Arch of the Druids, American Legion of Honour and Master Workman of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In 1865, Bate began publishing, with partners, a newspaper called the "Gazette." The business folded after six months. In later years, Bate returned to writing and published numerous articles on Nanaimo history in the local paper. Bate married Sarah Ann Cartwright in 1859 and had five sons and five daughters. Sarah died in 1897. In 1901, Bate married Hannah Harrison ( born in 1837 in Manchester), whom he had met on an extended visit to England. Hannah died in 1919. In 1927, Bate traveled to Birmingham, England and died there. His remains were returned to Nanaimo for burial in the public cemetery.

Photographs of Mark's children, Thomas Ezra and William Charles Bate, can be seen below

Incorporated in 1874, Nanaimo is the third oldest city in B.C. The City of Nanaimo is situated on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in a splendid natural harbour, across the strait of Georgia from the city of Vancouver on the Mainland of British Columbia.  Nanaimo [pronounced Na-ni-mo], is derived from an aboriginal word, and originated when the first white settlers tried to adapt a Coast Salish word into English. The Coast Salish people called themselves "Sneneymexw", which means "great and mighty people." Nanaimo was inhabited by 'first nations' people long before the Hudson Bay Company began fur trading with the local Indians along the coast of British Columbia. Coal mining became a major industry in Nanaimo, and the miners lived in some of the buildings owned by the Hudson Bay Company that were built prior to 1860. Nanaimo City was incorporated in 1874, and Mark Bate was the mayor, from 1875 until 1886. Today, Nanaimo is noted for lumbering and tourism, and has a population of approximately 75,000 people.

Mark Bate Memorial Tree Plaza Busts

On Saturday, June 29, 2002, the City of Nanaimo officially unveiled two bronze busts of Mark Bate and Ki-et-sa-kun (Coal Tyee). The busts were sculpted by the late Dorothea E. Kennedy. Both men played significant roles in the early settlement of Nanaimo. Mark Bate was the City's first mayor in 1875. Coal Tyee brought Nanaimo's coal deposits to the attention of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1849. The busts are located in the Mark Bate Memorial Tree Plaza (next to the Lighthouse Bistro/Pub on the downtown waterfront). This public art project was made possible by the generous financial assistance of the: Gyro Club, Women of the Moose, Kiwanis Club, Knights of Columbus, Order of the Royal Purple Lodge No. 16, Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 15 (Ladies Auxiliary), Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 10 and Ladies Auxiliary.

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