James Colebrooke Patterson

Who was James Colebrooke Patterson?

James Colebrooke Patterson, PC was a Canadian politician. He served as a federal cabinet minister from 1892 to 1895 and as the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba from 1895 to 1900.

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.

Patterson settled in the Windsor area and held a number of local offices. In 1875, he was elected to the Ontario legislature as a Conservative, defeating independent candidate L. Montreuil by 1209 votes to 755 in the riding of Essex North.

In 1878, Patterson resigned his provincial seat to run for the federal House of Commons. He was elected in the riding of Essex, defeating Liberal 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 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.