Edgar Turenne Oates was born on 15 June 1875 to James Holroyd Oates and Martha Jane (Potts?) He was baptised at Brunswick Chapel in Leeds on 14 July 1875 and the record shows that the family were living at 30 Bond Street. The family were still living at 30 Bond Street at the time of the 1881 Census, the census shows that this address was a savings bank and that James was “Secretary of Savings Bank”.
By the time of the 1891 Census James was still the “Secretary of Savings Bank” at 30 Bond Street and Edgar was a 15 year old scholar.
By 1901, Edgar was a Bank Manager living at 87 Queen Street in Coatham near Redcar.
Edgar was back in Leeds but 1910 living at 6 Norfolk Place in Chapel Allerton and working as a Bank Manager. He married Elsie Kate Faulkner at the Wesleyan Chapel in Chapel Allerton on 22 June 1910. The 1911 Census shows that they had settled at 12 Methley Drive and that Edgar was a Branch Bank Manager.
Edgar became the manager of the Yorkshire Penny Bank on Servia Road. On the 11 December the bank was the scene of an armed robbery and Edgar was shot dead.
Edgar was buried in St Matthew’s churchyard in Chapel Allerton on 18 December 1919.
Probate reads:
OATES Edgar Turenne of 12 Methley-drive Chapel Allerton Leeds died 11 December 1919 at the Yorkshire Penny Bank Servia-road Leeds Probate London 5 February to Elsie Kate Oates widow. Effects £813 0s. 6d.
BANK MANAGER SHOT DEAD. ROBBERY AFTER SENSATIONAL TRAGEDY IN LEEDS OFFICE. SEARCH FOR YOUNG OFFICER Leeds Bank Manager Murdered .- An armed robber entered a small branch premises of the Yorkshire Penny Bank in Servia-road, Leeds, yesterday afternoon and shot the manager, Mr. Edgar Oates, who showed re-sistence. Mr. Oates expired almost immediately. Police Searching for ex-Officer,-The marauder then locked the three remaining members of the staff in an ante-room, and decamped with about £450, driving away in a motor-car. The police are searching for a young Leeds ex-officer in connection with the affair.
BANK DRAMA. Sensational Murder of Leeds Manager. There are all the elements of a highly melodramatic kinema picture in the story of a murder and robbery which took place at a Leeds bank yesterday. The scene of the drama was small branch establishment of the Yorkshire Penny Bank in the Woodhouse district of the city. The premises are at the corner of the buildings dividing Camp-road and Servia-road. The dividing block narrows at the junction to little more than the width of the door of the bank premises, which face towards Camp-road. There is only one room in which the business of the bank is transacted and a lavatory. It is a thickly popula-ted busy, industrial district, and the bank has a considerable business and a staff of four people. They were Mr. E. P. Oates, the manager, a highly esteemed official of ? service with the bank, Mr. Richard-son the assistant manager, who lives at Ben Rhydding and two juniors, a youth and a girl. Business had proceeded normally yes-terday, and at three o’clock in the after-noon Mr. Richardson went from behind the counter to close the door. He was in the act of locking it when a man came up, and, pushing open the door entered the bank
MAN WITH REVOLVER. He startled Mr Richardson by at once whipping out a pistol, which he pointed at his head, and ordered him to hold up his hands. Mr. Richardson held up his hands and moved towards the counter. Mr. Oates, the manager, who was on the business side of the cunter, saw what was happening, and at once came round to the public side and walked towards the intruder. The latter then covered Mr. Oates with the revolver, and repeated his command to hold up hands. With a cool display of courage, Mr. Oates took no notice of the desperado, and although quite unarmed, moved with the intention of tackling him.
MANAGER FIRED AT. Without a moment’s hesitation the intruder fired the pistol at the manager. The bullet entered near the left temple, Mr. Oates dropped dead. The junior members of the staff had in meantime gone into the lavatory at the back of the room. The intruder pro-ceeded with his plan to rob the bank. At point of the pistol he drove Mr. Richardson into the lavatory and locked the door upon the staff. He then fired the pistol through the door of the lavatory, but happily the shot missed the occupants. It went through the door and struck the outer wall.
CASH DRAWERS RIFLED. The robber then coolly proceeded to rifle the cash drawers, and collected ??? and bank notes to the amount of over £400 With this money stuffed in his pockets he left the premises, and got clear away. It was a quiet period of the afternoon, few people were about in the street at the time. The shots were heard by one or two people, however, including Mr. Charles Atkinson, who lives next door to the bank. Mr. Atkinson states that he at first thought the shots were the back-firings of a motor-car. He heard some hubbub in the street however, and came outside. The noise was made by the occupants in the lavatory who smashed a small window which looks on to Servia-street. Mr. Fluck, the junior clerk, was heard to shout out that the bank manager had been shot.
“SEND FOR THE POLICE.” Mr. Atkinson, who looks after the premises, also came outside, and the man who is believed to be the assailant passed her, and said: “There are burglars in the bank. For God’s sake send for the police.” The man, quite unsuspected, walked towards a motor-car which was wait-ing a little distance from the bank. He entered the car and was driven off. It must be remembered that the felony had been enacted in the space of a very few minutes, and the people in the locality, naturally, did not at all grasp its grim nature. The cries from inside the lavatory soon raised an alarm, however, and Mr. Atkin-son and others hurried to the door of the bank premises. The door had leen latch-locked by the burglar and Mr. Atkinson and an ex-soldier named Arthur Smart had to kick in the panels to force an entrance. The windows are all heavily barred from the inside. When the door had thus been forced, the dead body of the heroic manager was found lying on the public side of the counter. The other members of the staff, who were imprisoned in the lavatory, were liberated, and they were keenly dis-tressed at the terrible fate of the manager, to whom they were very much attached.
IMPORTANT DISCOVERY. The police were informed, and the de-tective staff were quickly on the scene. They set to work at once to elucidate the crime, and they quickly made im-portant discoveries. They are now looking for a young ex-officer, named Albert Redfern, who served as a lieutenant in the Devon-shire Regiment. Redfern is a native of Leeds, but his parents left the city after he had enlisted. Redfern, the police learn, came to Leeds early on Tuesday morning, and went to the house of some friends. They had retired, but he roused them and stated that he had just arrived from Bristol by the 3.30 a.m. train. He had neither luggage nor money, and he stated that he had lost all that he possessed by speculation. It was noticed that he had in his possession a pistol. The friends gave him lodging, and he stayed with them until yesterday after-noon. At about a quarter to three he left the house, stating that he was going to post a letter. He returned in about half an hour. told his friends that he was going to catch a train for Bristol, and hurried away. He left bchind his overcoat.
DROVE TOWARDS THE BANK. Further inquiries by the police show that when he left the house at 2.45 he went to a neighbouring garage and drove directly towards the bank. When within thirty yards of the bank premises he stopped the taxi and told the driver to wait for him. The driver, quite unsuspecting, waited as ordered, and Redfern returned shortly, re-entered the taxi, and was driven back to the garage.
THE BROWN BAG. Inside the bank premises, near the door, a small brown brief-bag, contain-ing a new pair of handcuffs, was found after the outrage had been committed. The friends with whom Redfern had stayed say that he was out yesterday morning, and brought back with him a small brown bag. The police also say they have ascertained that he was seen in the vicinity of the bank premises on Wednesday. In September last Redfern was dis-charged from an officers’ convalescent hospital at Bristol. He had been severely wounded in the spine and right shoulder.
THE WANTED MAN. Last night the police circulated a des-cription of the wanted man. He is described as Albert Redfern, aged about twenty-four, a native of Leeds, and of English nationality; six feet in height, with dark brown hair, sallow complexion, thin build, clean shaven, and by trade a cloth warehouseman. He was dressed in a dark grey tweed suit, black bowler hat, black shoes and socks, and a stiff double collar and tie. At the time of writing no arrest had been made.
THE MURDERED MAN. An Active Member of the Wesleyan Church. Mr. Oates, who lived at 12, Methley-drive. Chapeltown, was a man very much loved and respected. He was closely con-nected with the Wesleyan Church and was one of the most hard-working mem-bers of the body at Chapel-Allerton. As secretary of the quarterly meeting of the circuit he was widely known, and he was also keenly and actively interested in the Sunday school. His father, who is still alive, is over eighty, and for a great number of years was manager of the Skyrac and Morley Bank. He is now retired, and lives in Cromer-terrace. Mr. Oates, who was about forty-five, was the eldest of the family, which comprised three boys and one daughter. One of the sons, who is now in London, has been sent for. About ten years ago Mr. Oates married a Miss Faulkner, who also comes of a Leeds family, and is a talented musician. Her father was the village schoolmaster at Chapel-Allerton. Mrs. Faulkner lives with her daughter at Methley-drive. A friend described Mr. and Mrs. Oates as “inseparable.” They were both fond of the open air, and walked over a great part of the dale country together. “He was a first-class tennis player, and while quiet in speech, a man of remarkably sound judgment.” Another friend de-scribed him as “a real man and a real Christian.” There are no children of the marriage. He had been associated with the York-shire Penny Bank for over twenty years, and his abilities and high character had won general esteem. He had been manager of the Servia-road Branch for several years.
The Leeds Mercury Friday December 12, 1919 (page 7) (transcription errors are all mine!)
