Bateson is best known for his advocacy of Mendel's theory of heredity, a theory he had almost discovered for himself before Mendel's long forgotten Versuche uber Pflanzen-Hybriden was rediscovered in 1900. Bateson was born at Whitby, the elder son of William Henry Bateson, Master of St. John's College, Cambridge. His younger sister was Mary Bateson, the historian. He was educated at Rugby School and St. John's College, Cambridge. Under the influence of Francis Maitland Balfour he took up the study of embryology which led him to visit the United States. There he met W.K.Brooks and became interested in evolution. It was this interest which led to his visiting Western Central Asia in 1886 and Egypt in 1887. After his return to Cambridge he developed his research and theories in Materials for the Study of Variation, published in 1894. Two works on Mendel's theories, were published in 1902 and 1909; and Problems of Genetics, in 1913. It was Bateson who first 'invented' the term genetics.
In 1910, after receiving many academic accolades, Bateson moved to Merton in Surrey where he was appointed Director of the newly opened John Innes Institute. Under his enterprising leadership this quickly established itself as an important centre for biological research, concentrating not just on the theoretical aspects but also on the practical. Many of Bateson's own speeches, etc. at this time were collected together under the title Essays and Addresses (1928). Besides his professional interests Bateson was also interested in art, particularly Prints and Drawings, and in 1922 he was elected a Trustee of the British Museum.
The En.mon.Mag., stated in its obituary 'although entomology was perhaps not Bateson's principal interest, he possessed a sound and extensive knowledge of our science in which he drew largely in his published works'. His writings on entomology included 'On the colour-variations of a beetle of the family Chrysomelidae, statistically examined' in Proc.Zool.Soc.Lond., 1895, 850-860.
Aquatic Coleoptera and Hemiptera collected by Bateson in west Central Asia were acquired by Cambridge University Zoological Collections on 17 October 1922 (Insect Department Register). A collection of his letters notebooks and papers is in the John Innes Institute Library at Norwich (see A. Cock, 'The William Bateson Papers' in Mendel Newsletter, 14, 1977, 1-4), and some correspondence with Henry Druce is in the RESL Library.
FRES from 1894; Council 1898; Vice President 1925. Gilbert (1977) lists seven obituaries and there is an entry in DNB (by R.C.Punnett who knew Bateson) which lists further references. (MD 9/01)