Arthur Yates

Arthur Yates (10 May 1861 – 30 July 1926) was an Australian horticulturist and seedsman who founded the horticultural supply company Yates.

Early life Yates was born on 10 May 1861 in Stretford, Lancashire, England, one of the six sons of seedsman Samuel Yates and his wife Mary (née McMullen). Yates' father operated a seed shop that was handed over to him by his father when he was aged 15, and in 1888, Samuel Yates took over his father's entire seed empire. Diagnosed with asthma, Arthur Yates moved to New Zealand in December 1879 and worked as a farmhand near Otago for some two years. Arthur Yates employed all of his sons, Harold, Arthur, Guy, and Philip, but excluded his daughters Vera and Maud. Yates was a staunch supporter of the Farm Home in Windsor and the Boys; Home in Milleewa, Ashfield. He died on 30 July 1926 in his residence in Burwood, Sydney, aged 65. The cause of death was cancer. He was buried in Enfield Cemetery and his company remained in operation, first as a family business headed by his eldest son Harold, and later as Yates Seeds Limited. It merged with Hortico to become Arthur Yates & Co. (later Yates), which was purchased for $45 million by Orica in 2003.