Bateman was born as Rachel Hannah Bailey in Bosanquet (then the village of Thedford), Lambton County, Ontario, Canada, on 16 January 1865, as the tenth child born to parents Elijah Bailey and Elizabeth Kennedy.

On Christmas Day, 25 December 1883, at the age of 18, she married John H. Bateman, a carpenter and cook. In 1899, the couple moved to Dauphin, Manitoba. They had six children (four daughters and two sons).

Her husband died in 1929. She lived in Dauphin for 60 years before moving to Winnipeg in the 1960s.

As of her 100th birthday, she was still physically active, doing household chores. At the time, she liked to do jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and to play scrabble. Around that time, she moved into Central Park Lodge in Winnipeg. At the age of 102, two of her daughters were alive, aged 82 and 68 respectively. She attributed her health to her diet, claiming how she was careful of what she ate and how she lived on doctor’s prescriptions. At the age of 107, she had 15 grandchildren, 31 great-grandchildren, and 23 great-great-grandchildren.

Bateman died in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on 18 March 1976, at the age of 111 years, 62 days.