| Code | PX5342 |
| Dates | 1825-1892 |
| Person Name | Bates; Henry Walter (1825-1892); Entomologist |
| Surname | Bates |
| Forenames | Henry Walter |
| Epithet | Entomologist |
| Activity | 1848 travelled to Para, Brazil on collecting expedition with Alfred Russell Wallace, he separated from Wallace in 1849 to continue collecting elsewhere in the Amazon Basin and didn't return to England until 1859. From 1864 0 1892 he was the assistant secretary for the Royal Geographical Society and from 1868 - 9 and 1878 he was the president of the Entomological Society of London, he was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1871 and was made a fellow of the Royal Society of London 1881
Henry Walter Bates has a permanent place in the history of natural history by virtue of his eleven year stint as a collector in tropical Brazil, the famous travel book he wrote describing his adventure, and his pulling together of geographical data, field observation, and Darwinian theory to fashion the theory of protective mimicry. Bates was headed for a dull life as a clerk at a brewery when by chance he ran into Alfred Russel Wallace at the library at the Collegiate School in Leicester, where Wallace was working temporarily as a master. Bates had already published some short notes on entomology and was an avid amateur collector; Wallace's interest was sparked and he kept in touch when he left the area. A couple of years later he suggested to Bates that they travel to the Amazon region as professional collectors. They did so, and while Wallace stayed there four years before moving on, Bates remained a full eleven years. On returning to London he began publishing important entomological works culminating in "Contributions to an Insect Fauna..." which included interesting zoogeographical analysis and developed his theory of protective resemblance, ever since known as Batesian mimicry. The next year he brought out his The Naturalist on the River Amazons, which quickly reached classic status as an example of literary scientific travel writing. The rest of Bates's life, however, proved something of a denouement. His work as secretary to the Royal Geographical Society starting in 1864 was rather demanding (though it allowed him plenty of opportunities to assist other naturalists in a variety of significant ways), and although he continued to produce good descriptive entomological work he never ventured into the realm of theory again. [Source: www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/homelist.htm] |
| Relationships | Brother of Frederick Bates |
| RefNo | Title |
| WP/1/3/14 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Mr [Henry] Bates |
| WP/1/3/13 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H[enry] Bates |
| WP/1/3/12 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H[enry] Bates |
| WP/1/3/19 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Dr [Henry] Bates |
| DF/ZOO/200/34/12 | Bates, Henry Walter |
| WP/1/3/18 | Letter to H[enry] Bates from Neath |
| DF/ZOO/200/1/74 | Bates, Henry Walter |
| WP/1/3/16 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Henry Bates |
| WP/1/3/23 | Letter from Henry W Bates to Mr Sims (husband of Frances Wallace) |
| WP/1/3/72 | Annotated list [part letter] initialled by Alfred Russel Wallace |
| WP/1/3/15 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H[enry] W Bates |
| WP/1/3/47 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H W Bates |
| WP/1/3/94 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H W Bates |
| WP/18/4/3 | Notes on collection of entomological specimens |
| DF/ZOO/200/15/33 | Bates, Henry Walter |
| WP/1/3/52 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H W Bates |
| WP/1/2/83 | Alfred Russel Wallace to Violet Wallace, from Parkstone, Dorset |
| WP/1/3/42 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Frederick Bates |
| WP/1/3/49 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H W Bates |
| WP/1/3/41 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to W H (sic) Bates |
| WP/1/3/22 | Letter from Henry W Bates to Mrs Wallace (Mary Anne Wallace) |
| WP/18/4/1 | Letter from E F Bates re his father's death and work |
| WP/1/3/17 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H[enry] Bates |
| WP/1/3/11 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to Mr [Henry ] Bates |
| WP/1/3/39 | Letter from Alfred Russel Wallace to H W Bates |