Rector of St Bartholomew the Great, Smithfield, London from 1738, he also held a Welsh living and seems to have commuted between the two. Born in Haverfordwest, he graduated from Jesus College, Oxford. He was hostile to the evangelical revival until influenced by his curate at Llys-y-frân, Howell Davies, a convert of Howell Harris. He attended the Conferences of 1747 and 1748. John Wesley preached at St Bartholomew's several times from 1747 on; but their friendship later cooled, perhaps because Bateman was influenced by the Countess of Huntingdon and attended some of the early meetings of the Calvinistic Methodist Association.