William Patterson, K. C

William Patterson was born in Ormstown, Quebec, and is a son of the late Samuel Patterson. He was educated at the public school of Ormstown; Huntingdon Academy at Huntingdon, Quebec; McGill University of Montreal, which institution conferred upon him the degree of B. A. with first rank honours in classics, in 1886, M. A., in 1889, and B. C. L., in 1895; and at Laval University, which granted him the LL. B. degree in 1900.

Mr. Patterson was principal of the Royal Arthur school at Montreal from 1888 to 1898, during which time he organized and directed a movement in favor of a school history of Canada, written from a Dominion instead of a provincial point of view, the object being, while the history of our country is told from its earliest periods, to direct, as far as possible, the mind of the reader from the various currents of provincial history into the broader channel of the Dominion and to make the boys and girls of Canada feel as they grow up into the responsibilities of citizenship that under confederation we have a united country and a united people. He addressed in support of the movement the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers of the Province of Quebec at their annual convention in McGill Normal school, Montreal, in October, 1889, and also addressed the Teachers of the Province of Nova Scotia at their annual convention, in Halifax, in December, 1890. He also read before the Royal Society of Canada at Montreal in June, 1891, a paper entitled A Proposal for a Dominion Text-Book of Canadian History. He was appointed secretary of the Dominion history committee, with the Hon. George W. Ross, later Sir George W. Ross, as chairman, by the Dominion Educational Association at its first meeting, which was held in Montreal in July, 1892. The result of these efforts was the organization of the Dominion history prize competition, open to authors of recognized ability, and the publication in June, 1897, of The History of the Dominion of Canada, by W. H. P. Clement, B. A., LL. B., which had been awarded the first prize, and of A Canadian History for Boys and Girls, by Miss Emily P. Weaver, which had been awarded the second prize—both works written from the viewpoint indicated above.

Mr. Patterson organized at Ormstown, Quebec, in 1888, the Chateauguay Literary and Historical Society and was its corresponding secretary from that time until 1895, when, under the auspices of the society and in the presence of over seven thousand people, many of whom had come from a distance, a monument erected on the Chateauguay battlefield by the Dominion government, the outcome of a long agitation, was unveiled in memory of Colonel de Salaberry’s brilliant victory of 1813 over the American invading army.

Mr. Patterson was called to the Quebec bar in July, 1901, and has since successfully practiced his profession at Montreal, where he is the attorney of the Dominion Alliance and of other bodies. He is the author of the Handbook of Commercial Law, published in 1904. In 1910 he was appointed joint crown prosecutor for the district of Beauharnois and in April, 1912, was created a king’s counsellor.

Mr. Patterson married Miss Naomi Florence Smith, a daughter of Robert Smith, of Westmount, Quebec, in July, 1909. He is a liberal in politics and has taken an active part on the hustings in all federal and provincial elections at Montreal and in its vicinity since 1900. His church membership is held in the Presbyterian denomination, and he is a member of the Canadian and Reform Clubs of Montreal. His residence is at 2290 Mance Street, Montreal.