I had Bates in Settrington, East Riding, Yorkshire in the 1500's & 1600's. My Martha (Margaret) mar. a Key--Matthew, I think. There were also Fords, Greens and Halladays there. My Keys and some Fords came to America as headrights of Thomas and Henry Batts (Batte? Bates? ) John Key got a land grand in Charles City Co., VA. I have wondered about Thomas and Henry Batts, where they came from, if the name was a variant of Bates. Lenora McArthur, Pensacola, FL