Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

William Paterson, FRS (17 August 1755 – 21 June 1810) was a Scottish soldier,

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

and

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

best known for leading early settlement at

Port Dalrymple George Town (palawa kani: ''kinimathatakinta'') is a large town in north-east Tasmania, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar River. The Australian Bureau of Statistics records the George Town Municipal Area had a population of 6,764 as ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Early years

A native of Montrose,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, Paterson was interested in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

as a boy and trained in horticulture at Syon in London.Smith, N., 'William Paterson: amateur colonial botanist, 1755–1810’, ''Australian Garden History'', 17 (1), 2005, pp. 8–10. Paterson was sent to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

by the wealthy and eccentric Countess of Strathmore to collect plants, he arrived in

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the fl ...

on board the "''Houghton''" in May 1777. He made four trips into the interior between May 1777 and March 1780, when he departed. In 1789 Paterson published ''Narrative of Four Journeys into the Country of the Hottentots and Caffraria'', which he dedicated to

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James Co ...

Career

Paterson was originally commissioned as an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the 98th Regiment of Foot and served in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He later transferred to the 73rd Regiment of Foot after the 98th's disbandment in 1787. In 1789, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

New South Wales Corps The New South Wales Corps, later known as the 102d Regiment of Foot, and lastly as the 100th Regiment of Foot, was a formation of the British Army organised in 1789 in England to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, which had accompanied ...

, serving under Major

Francis Grose Francis Grose (before 11June 173112May 1791) was an England, English antiquary, drawing, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local ...

. After some time spent recruiting, he arrived in Sydney in October 1791. From November 1791 until March 1793 he served in command on

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

. Whilst there he collected botanical, geological and insect specimens and sent them to Banks. He also provided seed to the Lee and Kennedy and Colvill nurseries. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in May 1798. In 1794 he served for a year as Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales. In 1800 he was re-appointed to the post and served a second term until 1808. In May 1795, following the killing of two unarmed settlers, Paterson ordered a party of corps to the area:

destroy as many (Aboriginal Australians) as they could meet with ... in the hope of striking terror, to erect gibbets in different places, whereon the bodies of all they might kill were to be hung ...

Seven or eight

Bediagal The Bidjigal (also spelt Bediagal, Bejigal, Bedegal or Biddegal) people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western, north-western, south-eastern, and southern Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. The ...

people were allegedly killed, although their bodies were never found, it is possible they had been recovered by the Bediagal people. A crippled man, some children and five women were taken to Sydney as prisoners. The crippled man, escaped. One of the women had sustained a gunshot wound to her shoulder, her weaning child was also injured. The child died not long after arriving at the settlement. One of the women delivered a child while in custody, unfortunately her newborn son died shortly after the birth. The remaining children along with all of the women where released. Afterwards Patterson ordered the soldiers withdraw from the area, soon after the Bediagal people attacked another farm, and put an unarmed settler and his son to death: after having seen her husband and her child slaughtered, the wife and mother was then also seriously wounded in the attack. In consequence, another party of the corps was sent out; while they were there the Bediagal did not attack and remained at a distance. Patterson had no other choice than to assign the soldiers permanently to avoid the ongoing cycle of attack followed by reprisal. In 1801, Paterson fought a duel with John Macarthur and was wounded in the shoulder. He led an expedition to the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...

in 1801 and up the Paterson River (later named in his honour by Governor King). The expedition discovered coal in the area that would later become the vast

South Maitland Coalfields The South Maitland coalfields was the most extensive coalfield in New South Wales until the great coal mining slump of the 1960s. It was discovered by Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson (explorer), William Paterson's party when they were engaged i ...

; it was a discovery of great economic significance. In 1804, he led an expedition to

, in what is now Tasmania, exploring the

Tamar River The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being named a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length. Etymology The Tamar River was named ...

and going up the

North Esk River The North Esk River is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia. Location and features It is one of the tributaries of the Tamar River together with the South Esk River. It starts in the Northallerton Valle ...

farther than European had previously gone. Between 1804 and 1808 Paterson was also appointed Commandant at Port Dalrymple, the administrator of the colony in the north of Van Diemen's Land. In 1806, Paterson's duties as commander of the New South Wales Corps required him to return to Sydney, but he went back to Van Diemen's Land in 1807, and stayed until December 1808. During this time he corresponded regularly with the eminent naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, sending a number of specimens. The New South Wales Corps selected Paterson as acting

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

on 1 January 1809 after the deposition of Governor Captain

William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...

in the so-called "

Rum Rebellion The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was a ''coup d'état'' in the British penal colony of New South Wales, staged by the New South Wales Corps in order to depose Governor William Bligh. Australia's first and only military coup, its name derives from the ...

." He was replaced by the newly arrived

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Gove ...

by the end of the year. He left Sydney for England on 12 May 1810, but died on board HMS ''Dromedary'' while off

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

just a few weeks later. His widow Elizabeth married

, Paterson's predecessor as Lieutenant Governor, in April 1814, but Grose died a month later. Elizabeth died in Liverpool, England in 1839.

References

Bibliography

External links

Short biography
from the

Australian National Botanic Gardens The Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) is a heritage-listed botanical garden located in , Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Established in 1949, the Gardens is administered by the Australian Government's Departme ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, William 1755 births 1810 deaths 18th-century British explorers 19th-century British explorers People from Montrose, Angus Botanists with author abbreviations 73rd Regiment of Foot officers Botanists active in Australia Explorers of Australia Lieutenant-governors of New South Wales Governors of Tasmania People who died at sea 18th-century Scottish botanists 19th-century Scottish botanists Scottish explorers Fellows of the Royal Society Colony of New South Wales people British explorers of Africa Australian duellists Rum Rebellion British Army colonels Military personnel from Angus, Scotland 18th-century British Army personnel 19th-century British Army personnel

Early years

Career

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links