View source for James Colebrooke Patterson

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = James Colebrooke Patterson
| honorific-suffix = [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|PC]] 
| image            = James Colebrooke Patterson.jpg
| imagesize        = 
| order            = 6th
| office           = Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba
| predecessor      = [[John Christian Schultz]]
| successor        = [[Daniel Hunter McMillan]]
| term_start       = September 2, 1895
| term_end         = October 9, 1900
| monarch          = [[Queen Victoria|Victoria]]
| governor_general = [[John Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair|The Earl of Aberdeen]]<br>[[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|The Earl of Minto]]
| premier          = [[Thomas Greenway]]<br>[[Hugh John Macdonald]]
| constituency_MP2  = [[Huron West]]
| parliament2      = Canadian
| predecessor2     = [[Malcolm Colin Cameron]]
| successor2       = [[Malcolm Colin Cameron]]
| term_start2      = 1892
| term_end2        = 1895
| constituency_MP3  = [[Essex North (federal electoral district)|Essex North]]
| parliament3      = Canadian
| predecessor3     = Electoral district was created
| successor3       = [[William McGregor (politician)|William McGregor]]
| term_start3      = 1882
| term_end3        = 1891
| constituency_MP4  = [[Essex (federal electoral district)|Essex]]
| parliament4      = Canadian
| predecessor4     = [[William McGregor (politician)|William McGregor]]
| successor4       = Electoral district was abolished
| term_start4      = 1878
| term_end4        = 1882
| office5          = Member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
| predecessor5     = Electoral district created
| successor5       = [[Solomon White]]
| term_start5      = January 18, 1875
| term_end5        = September 3, 1878
| constituency5    = [[Essex North (provincial electoral district)|Essex North]]
| birth_date       = 1839
| birth_place      = [[Armagh]], [[Ireland]]
| death_date       = February 17, 1929 (aged 89–90)
| death_place      = 
| nationality      = 
| spouse           = 
| party            = [[Conservative Party of Canada (historical)|Conservative]]
| otherparty       = [[Conservative Party of Ontario]]
| relations        = 
| children         = 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| occupation       = 
| profession       = 
| religion         = 
| cabinet          = Secretary of State of Canada (1892)<br>[[Minister of Militia and Defence]] (1892-1895)<br>Minister Without Portfolio (1895)
}}
'''James Colebrooke Patterson''', [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|PC]] (1839 &ndash; February 17, 1929) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] politician.  He served as a federal [[cabinet minister]] from 1892 to 1895 and as the [[List of lieutenant governors of Manitoba#Lieutenant Governors of Manitoba, 1870-present|sixth]] [[Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba]] from 1895 to 1900.

==Early life==
Patterson was born to a [[Protestant]] family in [[Armagh]], [[Ireland]], and was educated at [[Dublin]].  He moved to Canada in 1857 and entered the civil service, though he later resigned.  He subsequently trained in law and was called to the bar in 1876.

==Political career==
Patterson settled in the [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]] area and held a number of local offices (including a ten-year term as [[Reeve (Canada)|reeve]] of Windsor).  In 1875, he was elected to the [[Ontario legislature]] as a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Conservative]], defeating independent candidate L. Montreuil by 1209 votes to 755 in the riding of [[Essex North (provincial electoral district)|Essex North]].

In 1878, Patterson resigned his provincial seat to run for the federal [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]].  He was elected in the riding of [[Essex]], defeating [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[William McGregor (politician)|William McGregor]] by 2596 votes to 2318.

Patterson became a backbench supporter of [[Prime Minister]] [[John A. Macdonald]]'s government and was re-elected in the federal riding of [[Essex North (federal electoral district)|Essex North]] in 1882 and 1887.  On the former occasion, he defeated [[J.A. Kilroy]] by 1714 votes to 1022.  On the latter, he defeated Liberal [[Francis Cleary]] by 2301 votes to 2165.  He also served as president of the Ontario Conservative Union during a part of his time in parliament.

Patterson was defeated in the federal election of 1891, losing to William McGregor by 2892 votes to 2043.  In spite of this, he was subsequently called into the cabinet of [[John Abbott]], who became prime minister following Macdonald's death following the 1891 election.  He was sworn in as [[Secretary of State of Canada]] on January 25, 1892, and was re-elected to parliament on February 22 (defeating Liberal [[Malcolm Colin Cameron]] by 25 votes in a [[Huron West]] by-election).

When [[John S.D. Thompson]] replaced Abbott as prime minister in late 1892, Patterson was transferred to the Ministry of [[Minister of Militia and Defence|Militia and Defence]].  He held this position until March 26, 1895 (aside from a nine-day gap in December 1894), having been retained in the position when [[Mackenzie Bowell]] replaced Thompson in mid-1894.  He sought to bolster Canada's defensive capabilities and oversaw the construction of fortifications in [[Esquimalt, British Columbia|Esquimalt]], [[British Columbia]].  After stepping down from his ministry in March 1895, he served as a minister without portfolio.

Patterson resigned from cabinet entirely on September 1, 1895, to be sworn in as the new [[Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba]].  This was a period of upheaval in Manitoba's political culture, as the [[Manitoba Schools Question]] was in the last stages of its ongoing legal challenges.  Patterson was responsible for overseeing the end of most state funding for Catholic and francophone schools, although it is not clear that he played a significant role in the matter.  The lieutenant governor's position was largely ceremonial by this time.  Patterson does not appear to have re-entered political life when his term ended in 1900.

In addition to his political career, Patterson was also involved in journalism.  He was the founder of ''[[Canadian Magazine]]'', a work meant to showcase Canada's literary culture.

==Legacy==
Patterson is commemorated by Paterson Street in [[Winnipeg, Manitoba]].

[[J. C. Patterson Collegiate Institute]] in [[Windsor, Ontario]] was named after him.

==Electoral history==
{{1875 Ontario general election/Essex North}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=11414}}
* [http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=1690 Ontario Parliamentary History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101128230426/http://ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_all_detail.do?locale=en&ID=1690 |date=28 November 2010 }}
* [http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/people/patterson_jc.shtml Manitoba Historical Society profile]

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{{MBLG}}
{{CA-Ministers of Defence}}
{{CA-Secretaries of State of Canada}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Petterson, James Colebrooke}}
[[Category:1839 births]]
[[Category:1929 deaths]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of Manitoba]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942) MPs]]
[[Category:People from Armagh (city)]]
[[Category:Politicians from Windsor, Ontario]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in Ontario]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs]]