Scheduled for Saturday, 27 July 2024.

In the southwest corner of All Saints Church is a wall memorial to one Elizabeth Bate.  Written in Latin, it contains the usual hope of resurrection and so on but ends with the following intriguing snippet:   Mortem Obit 17 Apr 1667 Aet 46 Ex Hydro-pulmon Funesta Londini Conflagratione Acceleratam   “She died on 17th April 1667, aged 46, from water on the lung (presumably pneumonia) accelerated (i.e. brought on) by the deadly London conflagration (i.e. the Great Fire of London)”. At the time of the Great Fire in early September 1666, Elizabeth and her husband lived in Hatton Garden, less than half a mile from St Paul’s Cathedral which was itself destroyed in the blaze, and perilously close to the westernmost edges of the fire.  Although the Bates presumably fled to safety once the spread of the inferno became obvious, the smoke from the fire would have been thick and noxious and was reportedly visible from up to 50 miles away; the Great Fire is estimated to have destroyed over 13,000 houses (which were then mostly built from wood) as well as – inter alia - St Paul’s Cathedral, 86 Parish Churches and The Royal Exchange. Only 8 people were officially recorded as having died in the fire, although it is thought that the bodies of hundreds who died were never found among the ashes and debris.  Moreover, the effects of the smoke on the lungs of Londoners, even those living many miles from the fire itself would have been extremely damaging if not lethal, with many – like Elizabeth Bate – succumbing later. Perhaps more interesting than Elizabeth’s story is that of her husband, George.  He is remembered on the same memorial: Conjux lectissima Georgii bate m.d. Car ii med primarii   “Her Most Read Spouse, George Bate M.D. Chief Physician to Charles II”. George Bate was born in Maids Morton in Buckinghamshire in 1608.  At the age of 15, he entered New College, Oxford and later transferred to Queen’s College.  In 1629 the university awarded him the degree of Bachelor of Medicine and a licence to practise. He became a Doctor of Medicine in 1637 and, while the Court was in Oxford, Charles I appointed him as his chief physician. With the Royalist cause in the Civil War looking to be lost, Bate moved to London where he became physician to the Charterhouse and an avowed Parliamentarian.  In 1651, he was asked to travel to Edinburgh to take care of Oliver Cromwell who had fallen ill.   Cromwell recovered but was impressed by Bate and in 1653 he appointed him his chief physician. In late August, 1658, Cromwell fell ill with a fever and despite the efforts of his five doctors (Bate included), he died on 3rd September 1658.  A somewhat hasty autopsy was arranged (possibly because it was suspected that he had been poisoned) but the most likely cause of death was septicaemia, possibly caused by an impacted kidney stone. George Bate was out of a job, but not for long.  Soon after the restoration in 1660, he approached Charles II’s courtiers and convinced them that he had been a Royalist all along.  To back up his case, he related the details of how Cromwell had died and implied that perhaps he had been able to accelerate Cromwell’s approaching demise.  Shortly afterwards, he was appointed physician to Charles II. Bate died at his home in Hatton Garden on 19th April 1668 and was buried alongside Elizabeth in Kingston.  For over 30 years, he had practised medicine, serving two kings and a Lord Protector and changing his allegiance to the Royalist cause, the Commonwealth and back again, as and when it was most expedient to the cause of George Bate.

I have added this facility to the KTG Website as an experiment. If we can post comments, articles, new pieces of Kingston's history, pictures or anything else that others might find interesting and share this between the guides, perhaps at some stage we could open this up to the public and let them read our posts or even (subject to it being moderated), allow posts form the public.