Sir James Brown Patterson (18 November 1833 – 30 October 1895), was an Australian politician who served as

premier of Victoria The premier of Victoria is the head of government of the state of Victoria in Australia. The premier leads the Cabinet of Victoria and selects its ministers. The premier is appointed by the governor of Victoria, must be a member of the Vic ...

from 1893 to 1894. Patterson was born in 1833 at Patterson Cottage,

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to James Patterson, contractor, and Agnes, ''née'' Brown. Patterson emigrated to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in 1852 to seek his fortune on the goldfields. After a few years as a digger and four as a farmer, he settled in Chewton, where he went into business as a butcher, later moving into real estate. He was Mayor of Chewton for four years before he was elected to the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for Castlemaine in 1870. A moderate conservative, Patterson served in the second third governments of the liberal leader

Graham Berry Sir Graham Berry, (28 August 1822 – 25 January 1904), was an Australian colonial politician and the 11th Premier of Victoria. He was one of the most radical and colourful figures in the politics of colonial Victoria, and made the most de ...

, as commissioner for public works in August 1875 and as commissioner for public works and

Vice-President of the Board of Land and Works The Board of Land and Works was a government authority in Victoria, Australia. It was established by an act of parliament in 1857, with the aim of consolidating and coordinating the administration of public lands and public works. Consequently, ...

in 1877–1880. From July 1878 to March 1880 he was also

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government officia ...

. After 1881 he went into opposition, under the leadership of

Duncan Gillies Duncan Gillies (14 January 1834 – 12 September 1903), was an Australian colonial politician who served as the 14th Premier of Victoria. Biography Gillies was born at Overnewton near Glasgow, Scotland, where his father had a market garden. He ...

, and was commissioner for trade and customs in the Gillies government from 1889 to 1890. With the onset of the depression which followed the end of the Land Boom in 1891, Patterson emerged as the leader of the conservative critics of the governments of James Munro and

William Shiels William Shiels (3 December 1848 – 17 December 1904) was an Australian colonial-era politician, serving as the 16th Premier of Victoria. Biography Shiels was born in Maghera, County Londonderry, a town in the centre of Ulster in the north of ...

, who tried to deal with the crash by cutting government expenditure and raising taxes. Patterson spoke for the business and middle classes who did not want increased taxation at a time of depressed trade. In January 1893 Patterson moved a successful no-confidence motion in the Shiels government and became Premier. Patterson's government, however, had no better solutions to the depressed state of Victoria's government. A series of bank failures in April lead Patterson to declare a "bank holiday" (1 May 1893 – 5 May 1893) preventing panicked depositors from withdrawing their money. There were near-riots outside the closed banks, and confidence in the colony's finances plummeted. Later in the year Patterson became convinced that tax increases were after all inevitable, which the liberal opposition supported, but his conservative supporters revolted and he withdrew the idea, leaving himself with no policy at all. Affairs drifted until August 1894, when Patterson in turn lost a confidence vote in the Assembly. At the resulting elections the conservatives were heavily defeated by the protectionists under George Turner. Patterson returned to the opposition benches and was created K.C.M.G. in 1894. He was still a member of Parliament when he died on 30 October 1895 from

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

Murrumbeena, Victoria Murrumbeena ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira Local government areas of Victoria, ...

. A
1893 portrait of Patterson
by Gordon Coutts hangs in the Victorian Parliament House. Although the surname was common in the region at the time, he is thought to be the namesake for Patterson Lakes and river, Patterson Road and locale, and the subsequently-named

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

after Bentleigh on the

Frankston railway line The Frankston line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's third-longest metropolitan railway line, at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in centr ...

.''Brief History of the City of Moorabbin,'' undated pamphlet prepared by Moorabbin istorical Society?

References

*Geoff Browne, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1900–84'', Government Printer, Melbourne, 1985 *Don Garden, ''Victoria: A History'', Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1984 *Kathleen Thompson and Geoffrey Serle, ''A Biographical Register of the Victorian Parliament, 1856–1900'', Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1972 * Raymond Wright, ''A People's Counsel. A History of the Parliament of Victoria, 1856–1990'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, James 1833 births 1895 deaths Premiers of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Vice-presidents of the Board of Land and Works Chief secretaries of Victoria Australian federationists Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George People from Alnwick English emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians Australian businesspeople in real estate 19th-century Australian businesspeople Deaths from influenza Ministers for public works (Victoria) Ministers of railways (Victoria) Commissioners of trade and customs (Victoria) Postmasters-general of Victoria