Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 44.djvu/64

 .’ All these works had a very wide circulation, and gave a valuable stimulus to the study of zoology in schools. Patterson was also a frequent contributor to several scientific journals. In the ‘Zoologist’ he in 1843 published a dissertation on ‘The Reptiles mentioned by Shakespere.’ He wrote also for the ‘Magazine of Natural History,’ and contributed papers to the Royal Irish Academy, several of which are preserved in its ‘Transactions.’

Patterson was one of the earliest and most zealous members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1839 was appointed one of the secretaries of the section of natural history, an office which he held till 1844. When the association met in Belfast in 1852, he acted as local treasurer. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and of several other learned bodies.

In Belfast, where he enjoyed universal respect, Patterson meanwhile took an active part in the working of various local institutions. He was one of the founders of the ‘Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,’ and a specially zealous promoter of the interests of the ‘Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge,’ of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and of his old school, the Royal Academical Institution. For twelve years, 1858–70, he was one of the Belfast harbour commissioners. In 1865 he retired from business. He died on 14 Feb. 1872 at his residence, College Square, Belfast. He was buried in the city cemetery, where a handsome granite monument marks his grave. In the first presbyterian (unitarian) church, of which he was an attached member, there is also a mural tablet erected to his memory by his sons.

Patterson married, in 1833, Mary Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Hugh Ferrar, stipendiary magistrate of Belfast. By her he had eleven children, six daughters and five sons. The latter all engaged in commerce in Belfast. An excellent work by one of them, Mr. Robert Lloyd Patterson, on ‘The Birds, Fishes, and Cetacea of Belfast Lough,’ is well known. Another, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I.A., compiled a ‘Glossary of the Provincialisms of the Counties of Antrim and Down,’ which was published by the English Dialect Society.

 PATTERSON, ROBERT HOGARTH (1821–1886), journalist and miscellaneous writer, was born in Edinburgh in December 1821, and educated for a civil engineer at the high school of that city. When quite young he entered the printing-office of his cousin, John Ballantyne, as a press corrector. In 1852 he left the printing business to become editor of the ‘Edinburgh Advertiser.’ In 1858 he removed to London as editor—afterwards proprietor—of the ‘Press,’ and in 1865 he was appointed editor of the ‘Globe’ newspaper; but he resigned the post in 1869 to join the board of referees appointed by parliament to investigate and report upon the best means of purification of coal-gas in London. Chemistry had always been one of his favourite studies, and his scientific knowledge enabled him to take a leading part in the proceedings of the referees, which resulted in the discovery of the process still in use for the elimination of sulphur and ammonia impurities from gas.

In 1872 he proceeded to Glasgow as editor of the ‘Glasgow News,’ but his health broke down and he returned to London in 1874, where he resumed his literary work, contributing articles on politics, finance, science, and history to various magazines. In early life he contributed articles to ‘Chambers's Edinburgh Journal,’ and latterly he wrote for the ‘Quarterly,’ ‘Blackwood,’ ‘Bentley,’ and the ‘Dublin University Magazine.’

He had gained a reputation as a financial expert, and was consulted by both the Bank of England and the Bank of France on financial and currency questions, and was elected a fellow, and afterwards a member of council, of the Statistical Society. He died at Hammersmith on 13 Dec. 1886. He had married, in 1848, Georgina, daughter of Captain Thomson of Perth.

Patterson was the author of: 1. ‘The New Revolution; or the Napoleonic Policy in Europe,’ Edinburgh and London, 1860 (a work which attracted considerable attention, owing to the singular fulfilment, soon after publication, of several of its predictions). 2. ‘Essays in History and Art,’ Edinburgh, 1862 (reprinted from ‘Blackwood's Magazine’). 3. ‘The Economy of Capital; or Gold and Trade,’ Edinburgh, 1865. 4. ‘The Science of Finance,’ Edinburgh, 1868. 5. ‘Railway Finance,’ Edinburgh, 1868. 6. ‘The State, the Poor, and the Country, including Suggestions on the Irish Question,’ Edinburgh, 1870. 7. ‘Gas and Lighting’ (British Manufacturing Industries Series), London, 1876. 8. ‘The New Golden Age and the Influence of the Precious Metals upon the World,’ 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1882. He was also the author of the following pamphlets: ‘Indian Politics: two essays on Self-Government in India and the Indian Land Question,’ 2 pts.