[Henry Bate]. British journalist and clergyman, born in 1745, in Fenny Compton, England. A man of great ability, he distinguished himself in several lines. He was a writer of no mean talent; his Rival Candidates (1775) and Travelers in Switzerland (1793), both comic operas, established him among the dramatists of his time. His services as a magistrate were such as to bring him a baronetcy. As a clergyman, he became prebendary of Ely. He established the Morning Post in 1775 and the Morning Herald in 1780. He was the author of several pamphlets on political economy. He died in London on the 1st of February 1824.
