Coates (family)

Harper Havelock Coates (1865-1934) and Agnes Wintemute Coates (1864-1945) were missionaries to Japan in the late nineteenth and earlier twentieth century. Agnes Wintemute Coates was born near St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1864. She studied at Normal School and Alma College (Mistress of Arts). She was sent by the Women's Missionary Society (Methodist) to Japan in 1886. She taught school until 1893, when she married Harper H. Coates and resigned from the Women's Missionary Society. She raised a family, and continued to teach school. She also studied and taught nutrition. She had many Japanese friends, converted to Ba'hai, and remained in Japan after her husband's death. She died in 1945. Harper Havelock Coates was born near Prescott, Ontario, in 1865. He studied at Victoria University (M.A., D.D.), and was ordained in 1888. He went to Japan (ca. 1890) as part of Dr. Eby's "Self-Support Band" and taught English in government schools until 1892. He was a missionary at Central Tabernacle, Tokyo, until 1902, Professor of Theology at Aoyama College until ca. 1914, and an evangelist at Hamamatsu and Kanazawa until his death in 1934. He was an expert in Japanese language and customs. He had a special interest in Buddhism, and he co-authored a major study of Honen, a Buddhist reformer. He also wrote poetry and music