William Paterson (4 June 1847 – 11 March 1920) was an Australian politician and businessman in
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. He was a member of the unicameral
Legislative Council from 1889 until its dissolution the following year, and then a member of the newly created
Legislative Assembly from 1890 to 1895.
Early life
Paterson was born in
Pinjarra, in Western Australia's
Peel region. He was educated in
Fremantle and at
Bishop Hale's School in
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
, and was then sent to a private school in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, where he stayed from 1862 to 1864. In 1872, after their father's death, Paterson and his brother took over the family property at Pinjarra. He was elected to the
Murray Road Board in 1875, and remained a member until 1895. In 1886, Paterson relocated from Pinjarra to
Jarrahdale, living on the property that would eventually become the
Whitby Falls Hospital
Whitby Falls Hospital is a former hospital for the mentally ill located in Mundijong, Western Australia. Until its closure in 2006 it was the longest operating facility in Western Australia for the care and treatment of mental illness.
History
...
.
[William Paterson](_blank)
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
Politics
Paterson was elected to the Legislative Council in 1889, following the resignation of
Theodore Fawcett, and held the
seat of Murray and Williams until the council was reformed following the advent of
responsible government in 1890.
At the
1890 general election, he was elected to the new Legislative Assembly, representing the
seat of Murray. He retained Murray at the
1894 election.
Later years
Paterson resigned from parliament in February 1895 to become the managing trustee of the
Agricultural Bank of Western Australia
Bankwest is an Australian full-service bank based in Perth, Western Australia. It was sold in October 2008 to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia for 2.1 billion and operates as a division of its parent company.
Bankwest previously had branch ...
, and the following year moved to what is now
Mosman Park
Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local gov ...
(a western suburb of Perth). In 1901, he was elected to the
Buckland Hill Road Board. Paterson eventually retired to
South Perth. He died in March 1920, aged 72.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, William
1847 births
1920 deaths
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Members of the Western Australian Legislative Council
People educated at Hale School
People from Pinjarra, Western Australia
Western Australian local councillors