William Paterson (explorer)

Infobox Prime Minister
name = William Paterson


birth_date = 17 August 1755
birth_place = Montrose, Scotland
death_date = May/June, 1810
death_place = at sea (off Cape Horn)
spouse =
order = 1st (and only) Lieutenant Governor of Northern Van Diemen's Land
term_start = February 16, 1804
term_end = March 24, 1808
successor =
predecessor =
order2 = 5th Governor of New South Wales (acting)
term_start2 = 1 January, 1809
term_end2 = March 24, 1808
successor2 = Lachlan Macquarie
predecessor2 = William Bligh|

Colonel William Paterson (17 August 1755, Montrose, Scotland – 21 June 1810, off Cape Horn) was a Scottish soldier, explorer, and botanist best known for leading early settlement in Tasmania.

Sent to the Cape by the wealthy and eccentric Countess of Strathmore to collect plants, he arrived in Table Bay on board the "Houghton" in May 1777. He made four trips into the interior between May 1777 and March 1780, when he departed.

Paterson was originally commissioned in the 98th Regiment of Foot, but transferred to the 73rd Regiment of Foot after the 98th's disbandment in 1787.

In 1794, Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson, from the New South Wales Corps, granted more land and convict servants to the military, giving them great powers and undermining Governor Arthur Phillip's good naval government.

He led an expedition to the Hunter Valley in 1801 and up the Paterson River (later named in his honour by Governor King).

Between 1804 and 1808 he was the Lieutenant Governor of the north of Van Diemen's Land.

In 1804 he led an expedition to Port Dalrymple, Tasmania, exploring the Tamar River and going up the North Esk River farther than anyone previously had managed to do.

In 1806 his duties as commander of the New South Wales Corps required him to return to Sydney, but he came back 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.

Paterson was appointed Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales on 1 January 1809, and was replaced by Lachlan Macquarie at the end of the year. His health had begun to decline; he left Sydney on 12 May 1810, but died on board ship while off Cape Horn just a few weeks later.

His widow Elizabeth married Francis Grose in April 1814, but he died a month later.

External links

* [http://www.elaunceston.com/launcestonhistory/paterson.htm Biography from the "Examiner"]
* [http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/patterson-william.html Short biography] from the Australian National Botanic Gardens

Further reading

*Alexander, Alison (editor) (2005)"The Companion to Tasmanian History"Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart. ISBN 186295223X.
*Robson, L.L. (1983) "A history of Tasmania. Volume 1. Van Diemen's Land from the earliest times to 1855"Melbourne, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195543645