​BATESON (Batson or Betson), THOMAS, an English writer of madrigals in the early 17th century. He is said to have been organist of Chester cathedral in 1599, and is believed to have been the first musical graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He is known to have written church music, but his fame rests on his madrigals, which give him an important place among Elizabethan composers. He published a set of madrigals in 1604 and a second set in 1618, and both collections have been reprinted in recent years. He died in 1630.