James Colebrooke Patterson, PC (1839 – February 17, 1929) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. He served as a federal

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

from 1892 to 1895 and as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1895 to 1900.

Early life

Patterson was born to a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

family in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and was educated at

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. He moved to Canada in 1857 and entered the civil service, though he later resigned. He subsequently trained in law and was called to the bar in 1876.

Political career

Patterson settled in the

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

area and held a number of local offices (including a ten-year term as reeve of Windsor). In 1875, he was elected to the

Ontario legislature The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, defeating independent candidate L. Montreuil by 1209 votes to 755 in the riding of Essex North. In 1878, Patterson resigned his provincial seat to run for the federal

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. He was elected in the riding of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

William McGregor by 2596 votes to 2318. Patterson became a backbench supporter of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

's government and was re-elected in the federal riding of Essex North in 1882 and 1887. On the former occasion, he defeated J.A. Kilroy by 1714 votes to 1022. On the latter, he defeated Liberal Francis Cleary by 2301 votes to 2165. He also served as president of the Ontario Conservative Union during a part of his time in parliament. Patterson was defeated in the federal election of 1891, losing to William McGregor by 2892 votes to 2043. In spite of this, he was subsequently called into the cabinet of

John Abbott Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott (March 12, 1821 – October 30, 1893) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the third prime minister of Canada from 1891 to 1892. He held office as the leader of the Conservative Party. Abbot ...

, who became prime minister following Macdonald's death following the 1891 election. He was sworn in as

Secretary of State of Canada The Secretary of State for Canada, established in 1867 with a corresponding department, was a Canadian Cabinet position that served as the official channel of communication between the Dominion of Canada and the Imperial government in London. Sco ...

on January 25, 1892, and was re-elected to parliament on February 22 (defeating Liberal Malcolm Colin Cameron by 25 votes in a

Huron West Huron West was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1882 to 1917. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created from parts of Huron Centre, Huron North and Huron South ridings. Th ...

by-election). When John S.D. Thompson replaced Abbott as prime minister in late 1892, Patterson was transferred to the Ministry of Militia and Defence. He held this position until March 26, 1895 (aside from a nine-day gap in December 1894), having been retained in the position when

Mackenzie Bowell Sir Mackenzie Bowell (; December 27, 1823 – December 10, 1917) was a Canadian newspaper publisher and politician, who served as the fifth prime minister of Canada, in office from 1894 to 1896. Bowell was born in Rickinghall, Suffolk, En ...

replaced Thompson in mid-1894. He sought to bolster Canada's defensive capabilities and oversaw the construction of fortifications in

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. After stepping down from his ministry in March 1895, he served as a minister without portfolio. Patterson resigned from cabinet entirely on September 1, 1895, to be sworn in as the new Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba. This was a period of upheaval in Manitoba's political culture, as the

Manitoba Schools Question The Manitoba Schools Question () was a political crisis in the Canadian province of Province of Manitoba, Manitoba that occurred late in the 19th century, attacking publicly-funded separate schools for Roman Catholics in Canada, Roman Catholics and ...

was in the last stages of its ongoing legal challenges. Patterson was responsible for overseeing the end of most state funding for Catholic and francophone schools, although it is not clear that he played a significant role in the matter. The lieutenant governor's position was largely ceremonial by this time. Patterson does not appear to have re-entered political life when his term ended in 1900. In addition to his political career, Patterson was also involved in journalism. He was the founder of ''

Canadian Magazine The ''Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature'' was the premiere monthly literary journal of Anglophone Canada for three decades. History and profile Edited first by James Gordon Mowat then by John Alexander Cooper, the first i ...

'', a work meant to showcase Canada's literary culture.

Legacy

Patterson is commemorated by Paterson Street in

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute J.C. Patterson Collegiate Institute (also known as Patterson) was a public secondary school located in downtown Windsor from 1854 until 1973. History The school began as a grammar school in 1854 and was turned into a high school in 1871 and was ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

was named after him.

External links

*
Ontario Parliamentary History

Manitoba Historical Society profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petterson, James Colebrooke 1839 births 1929 deaths Lieutenant Governors of Manitoba Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs People from Armagh (city) Politicians from Windsor, Ontario