Y is for Yates

According to the ‘Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland’, the surname Yates (or Yate, Yeates, Yeats, and Yetts) is:

“... a locative name, occupational name for someone who lived by a gate … in some cases because they acted as the gatekeeper or porter to a hall, monastery, or some other important building.”

The gates to Burleigh Hall, off Ashby Road

In 1881 there were just under 21,000 people bearing the surname in England, many of whom were resident in Lancashire, the West riding of Yorkshire, and the West Midlands, with some in Kent and Surrey. Not a name to be found very regularly in Loughborough then, but, of course, we weren’t without some members of a Yates family.

In ‘A-Z of Loughborough’ I introduced readers to William Yates (1792-1845), who was the son of a local shoemaker. William was educated at the Loughborough Grammar School, and became a Baptist missionary. He gives his name to one of the competitive houses of the grammar school.

I also shared the story of Samuel Yates (1766-1831), a local insurance agent for Hope Insurance. For a wager, Samuel walked to Nottingham and back every day for six days, from the Bull’s Head (now Esquires coffee shop) on High Street, to the Black’s Head, probably in Carlton, Nottingham, a roundtrip of about 30.5 miles. Despite having broken his leg 18 months before, and walking with a stick, Samuel won the bet. He walked 183 miles in a period of 66 hours and 9 minutes – restricted to the hours of 8am and 8pm - although by the time he returned to Loughborough for the final time, he was using two walking sticks.

Of course, there were many other people in Loughborough with the surname of Yates, down the ages. We have Samuel Yates, a baker in 1892. Then there’s John Yates, a boot and shoemaker on High Street in 1822. In 1828 we find a plasterer on Ashby Road, called Samuel Yates, and a builder named Joseph Yates, also on Ashby Road.  

In 1846 a William Yates is the licensed victualler at the Black Horse public house on Wood Gate, who by 1854 had moved to the Pack Horse, also on Wood Gate, where he – or possibly his descendants, also named William - remained until at least 1876. John Yates was a cowkeeper living at 10 Cobden Street in 1892, and John Joseph Yates was a clerk, living at 113 Park Road also in 1892, where he remained until at least 1908. The final Yates to mention, is J.H., who in 1928 was a fried fish dealer at 28 King Street, a building probably now replaced by the Crown apartments.

The former Pack Horse, now the Organ Grinder

Unlike William Yates’ walk, this has been a whistle-stop tour of some of the Yates people found in Loughborough – taken from street and trade directories, so by no means all of the families!   

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This post is one in a series of posts for the ‘April A-Z Blogging Challenge’

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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