sentences:  His paternal grandfather, John Bates (d. 1855), had been a minor figure in the Conservative Party in Belfast, before his duties were discharged on a Chancery Court ruling of maladministration.Bates was educated at Coleraine Academical Institution.After studying at Queen's College, Belfast, became a solicitor in 1900, in 1908 founding a firm with his uncle – E and R.D.