Clan Paterson (Scottish Gaelic: MacPhadraig) is a Lowland Scottish clan. The clan is officially recognized as such by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; however, as the clan does not currently have a chief it is considered an Armigerous clan.[3]
| Clan Paterson | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Huc Tendimus Omnes (We all strive for this)[1] |
| Profile | |
| District | Bannockburn, Stirling |
| Clan Paterson no longer has a chief, and is an armigerous clan | |
| Historic seat | Bannockburn House[2] |
History
Origins
The name Paterson in Scottish Gaelic is MacPhadraig, which could be a shortened form of MacGille Phadraig which means son of the devotee of Saint Patrick.[3] This suggests that the ancestor may have been a churchman as the Celtic church allowed priests to marry.[3] Or it could mean that the ancestor was a "layman" who was part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.[3]
In around the end of the 13th century the Patersons had settled on the shores of Loch Fyne with name becoming widespread in the Scottish Lowlands.[3] As of 1994 it was amongst the twenty most common surnames in the Lowlands.[3]
15th and 16th centuries
A gentleman named William Paterson witnessed a charter in 1446 in Aberdeen.[3] In 1563 James Paterson was sheriff-depute of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.[3] He later became Provost of Inverness.[3]
17th and 18th centuries
William Paterson was a founder of the Bank of England, but he is better-remembered as being the architect of the disastrous Darien scheme.[3] The scheme was an attempt to establish a Scottish colony at the isthmus of Darien in Central America.[3]
A celebrated episode of the Paterson family was during the Jacobite rising of 1745 when Sir Hugh Paterson, 2nd Baronet (of Bannockburn) entertained Prince Charles Edward Stuart in January 1746.[3] Sir Hugh’s niece, Clementina, became Prince Charlie's mistress and bore him a daughter, Charlotte Stuart, Duchess of Albany.[3] Bannockburn House still stands today as it was when Bonnie Prince Charlie visited it.[3]
Highland Patersons
The Scottish surname Paterson is also considered as a sept of the Clan MacLaren and Clan Farquharson who were based in the Scottish Highlands.[4]