Thomas Paterson (20 November 1882 – 24 January 1952) was an Australian politician who served as deputy leader of the Country Party from 1929 to 1937. He held ministerial office in the governments of

Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party. Bor ...

and

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

, representing the

Division of Gippsland The Division of Gippsland is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for the Gippslan ...

in Victoria from 1922 to 1943. He played a leading role in the creation of the Victorian Country Party as the political arm of the

Victorian Farmers' Union The Victorian Farmers' Union (VFU) was an association of farmers and primary producers formed in 1914 in the Australian state of Victoria. Although initially formed as an "absolutely non-political" entity, the VFU became a political party in 191 ...

Early life

Paterson was born on 20 November 1882 in

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England. He was the son of Scottish parents Elizabeth Mitchell (née Donald) and George Paterson. Paterson attended

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent day school for boys in the British public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birm ...

, and Ayr Grammar School in Scotland. He left school after his father's death in 1897 and began working for footwear retailer Morton's, his father's former employer. He worked in England and Scotland as a shoe salesman and branch manager, resigning in 1908 in order to immigrate to Australia. Prior to leaving he worked on a farm and attended the Dairy School in Kilmarnock in order to gain experience in agriculture. Together with four other family members, Paterson arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

in December 1908. They joined two of his brothers who had previously established a dairy farming property at Springfield, Victoria. The brothers developed a

mixed farm Mixed farming is a type of farming which involves both the growing of crops and the raising of livestock. Such agriculture occurs across Asia and in countries such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Central Europe, Cana ...

on scientific principles, while Paterson also bred

Clydesdale horse The Clydesdale is a Scottish horse breed, breed of draught horse. It is named for its area of origin, the Clydesdale (district), Clydesdale or valley of the River Clyde, much of which is within the county of Lanarkshire. The origins of the br ...

s. He joined the

in 1916 as a member of the Springfield branch, and was elected vice-president in 1920 and state president in 1922.

Political career

Paterson joined the

in 1916, became its president in March 1922 and in November 1922 chaired a conference that led to the creation of the Victorian Country Party. He stood unsuccessfully for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

in the

1919 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1919. Africa * 1919 Liberian general election America Canada * 1919 Edmonton municipal election * 1919 Newfoundland general election * 1919 Ontario general election * 1919 Ontario prohibition referendu ...

and for the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

in 1920 but in 1922 elections he won the federal seat of

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

, defeating the

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

George Wise. His victory was one of several Country Party gains that forced the Nationalists to go into Coalition with the Country Party in order to stay in office. In

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

, he campaigned for a subsidy for dairy exports to be paid for by a tax on Australian consumers and known by opponents as "Paterson's Curse" (referring to the Australian name for ''

Echium plantagineum ''Echium plantagineum'', commonly known as purple viper's-bugloss or Patterson's curse, is a species of the genus '' Echium'' native to western and southern Europe (from southern England south to Iberia and east to the Crimea), northern Afr ...

''). £20 million were paid under this scheme between 1926 and 1933. Paterson was Minister for Markets and Migration from June 1926 to January 1928, Minister for Markets from January to December 1928 and Minister for Markets and Transport from December 1928 to October 1929. He was deputy leader of the parliamentary Country Party from 1929 to 1937, under

Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (8 August 188020 December 1961) was an Australian surgeon and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the lead ...

, and was acting leader for several months in 1933 following the death of Page's son. He was appointed

Minister for the Interior Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

in the Lyons coalition government in November 1934. Also in November 1934 he made an exclusion order against Czech writer

Egon Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Raging Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners of the ...

which was later overturned by the High Court. He resigned as minister and deputy party leader after the 1937 elections, as a result of the 1936 controversy over the exclusion from Australia of

Mabel Freer Mabel Magdalene Freer (, later Cusack) was a British woman whose exclusion from Australia on morality grounds in 1936 became a cause célèbre and led to a political controversy. Freer was born in British India. After separating from her first ...

, a white British woman born in India, who, under the terms of the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, had failed a dictation test in Italian. During his time as Minister for the Interior, Paterson was praised by William Cooper of the

Australian Aborigines' League The Australian Aborigines' League was established in Melbourne, Australia, in 1933 by William Cooper and others, including Margaret Tucker, Eric Onus, Anna and Caleb Morgan, and Shadrach James (son of Thomas Shadrach James and brother-in-law ...

for his goodwill and support of the League's requests for greater government assistance to Aboriginal people. Paterson remained prominent in Country Party affairs and helped form a breakaway party from the Victorian Country Party that was loyal to the federal parliamentary Country Party in March 1938. He helped reconcile the federal and Victorian parties in 1943, but did not stand for re-election in 1943 elections.

Personal life

Paterson married Elsie Jane Tyrrell in 1908, one day before the couple migrated to Australia. The couple had two sons; their younger son Archibald was a decorated

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF) but drowned in 1945. Paterson was an

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

in the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

. After leaving politics he served as a director of the Phosphate Cooperative Company of Australia and the Victorian Wheat-Growers' Corporation. He died at his home in

McKinnon McKinnon, MacKinnon or Mackinnon is a Scottish surname. (Gaelic: ''Mac Fhionghain''), Notable people with this surname include: * Allan McKinnon, P.C., M.C., C.D. (1917–1990), Canadian politician, MP – Victoria 1972-1988 * Alexander "Alex" ...

on 24 January 1952, after an illness of three months. He was granted a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

and cremated at

Springvale Cemetery The Springvale Botanical Cemetery is the largest crematorium and memorial park in Victoria, Australia. It is located in Springvale, in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. History Originally known as The Necropolis Springvale, the cemetery co ...

References

Sources

* Attwood and Markus (2004) ''Thinking Black: William Cooper and the Aborigines' Advancement League'', Aboriginal Studies Press: Canberra. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Thomas National Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Gippsland Members of the Australian House of Representatives 1882 births 1952 deaths Members of the Cabinet of Australia 20th-century Australian politicians British emigrants to Australia Australian farmers Australian people of Scottish descent Australian Presbyterians