CHARLES SPENCE BATE. 
341 
CHAELES SPENCE BATE, 
L.D.S.R.C.S.Eng., f.r.s. 
So full a notice of the life and work of the late Charles Spence 
Bate has appeared in the Transactions of the Devonshire Asso- 
ciation 1 that little more is necessary than to record the fact of 
his removal from among us. 
He became a Member of the Society in 1852, and for upwards 
of thirty years took an active part in every thing that concerned 
its welfare. Not excepting the original founders, no Member, 
probably, ever did the Institution such good service. He aroused 
it from the state of lethargy into which it had fallen for several 
years previously to his associating himself with it, and excited 
a fresh and intelligent interest in its work and objects. By his 
efforts the publication of the Annual Proceedings were commenced, 
and their continuance rendered possible ; and to a great extent it is 
owing to him that we have our present Museum, for his persistent 
endeavours to influence public opinion, and to impress upon his 
generation the great value of local collections, rendered the work 
more easy for those by whom the erection of the new building 
was at length successfully carried out. 
He delivered upwards of thirty lectures and addresses in the 
Athenaeum, many of them of much permanent interest, and the 
Library and Museum contain many valuable presentations from 
him. 
The decision not to maintain the new Museum as a purely 
local one was a very keen disappointment to Spence Bate, and it 
caused him to withdraw from all participation in the affairs of the 
Society, and although he continued his Membership, we believe 
he never entered the Athenaeum again — certainly not to attend a 
lecture or to take any part in its proceedings. 
Charles Spence Bate was born at Truro, 12th March, 1812, 
and died at South Brent, 29th July, 1889. 
1 Vide Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. xxi., 1889. 
