Robert James Patterson
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Rev Robert James Patterson B.A LL.B (also styled as R.J Patterson) (1 January 1868 - 9 October 1930) was an Irish Presbyterian minister, social reformer, and the founder of the worldwide Catch-My-Pal Total Abstinence Union. He was born in Whitecross,
County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...
and was brought up by his Aunt (Helena Reid) and Uncle (Rev. James Patterson) in Bray, County Wicklow. Rev Patterson read Law, gaining his
LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
at
Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
. He met his wife, Sophia ('May'), when working in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and she returned to Ireland with him where they had two sons, Samuel Canon Wiltshire Patterson, and James Hamilton Reid Patterson, whilst living in Armagh. Rev. Robert Patterson was the Minister of the 3rd Armagh Congregation of the
Presbyterian Church in Ireland The Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI; ; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Prisbytairin Kirk in Airlann'') is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the Republic of Ireland, and the largest Protestant denomination in Northern Ireland. ...
, where he was ordained, who went on to become full-time Organising Secretary of the Union and was later Minister of the Crumlin Road Congregation in Belfast. Patterson was a pioneer in the field of Presbyterian/Roman Catholic Inter-Church relations. The movement attracted a large number of followers in Ireland and Great Britain. In 1914 Patterson claimed that "About 140,000 men and women joined the Union during the first year in Ireland; and almost 500 branches were formed in less than two years'. As the Catch-My-Pal movement grew, and Patterson's book 'The Happy Art of Catching Men: A story of Good Samaritanship' was published in 1914, his travel schedule became extensive, travelling over 21,000 miles in just one year around the USA and Canada. The dedication in his book to his wife referenced this frequent travel. Rev Patterson died at home in
Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...
in October 1930 from a heart condition, surviving his two sons, and three and half years before the birth of his first grandchild. He is buried in Dundonald Cemetery with his wife.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Robert James 20th-century Irish Presbyterian ministers Christian clergy from County Armagh People from Bray, County Wicklow Alumni of Trinity College Dublin 1868 births 1930 deaths Irish temperance activists Christian clergy from County Wicklow Activists from County Wicklow