John Paterson (Cape politician)

John ("Jock") Paterson (1822 – 1880) was a prominent politician and successful businessman of the

In 1854 he was elected to the first Cape Parliament as one of the two members for

His proposed solution was a view which he held for the remainder of his life – that the white eastern Cape deserved a greater degree of separation, or to become the seat of the Cape's parliament and government. In this, he differed from the radical members of the "separatist league", who were based further east in Grahamstown, were led by Robert Godlonton, and who proposed absolute and immediate separation. He also angered Godlonton's Grahamstown clique by his blocking of their Kowie harbour proposal, which he saw as potentially taking shipping activity away from Port Elizabeth. The separatist movement began a gradual decline due to a growing fear in the Midlands around Port Elizabeth and Graaff-Reinett that if they attained separation then they would fall under the domination of Grahamstown.

He resigned from politics in 1858 due to his wife's fatal illness.

Business interlude (1859-1873)

In 1859 he made a business trip to Britain where he had a great deal of family and business connections, and he even made a bid for a seat in the British parliament, which he eventually decided against.

In 1862 he founded Standard Bank, now one of the largest banks in southern Africa. However he later suffered several business failures and declared bankruptcy in 1867.^[5]

In 1872, the Cape attained self-rule (or "responsible government" as it was known) and an economic boom ensued as the new locally elected government began vast infrastructure projects across the country. Paterson, financially uplifted by the economic boom, re-entered politics.

Return to Parliament (1872-1877)

Separatist League (1872-1874)

Paterson was elected to the Cape Parliament again in 1873. The enormous growth in the economy was fueling a competition between the ports Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, for the expanding inland trade. Paterson therefore returned to his fight for a moderate form of separation – so as to avoid dominance by either Cape Town to the west, or Grahamstown to the east. In other developments, he put forward bills for a local government system, and for a division of public money according to customs and land revenue, but both bills were defeated.

Paterson and his political ally

Not always popular, Paterson's views, and especially the way in which he delivered them, often provoked considerable hostility in parliament.[8] This all too frequently left him isolated and unable to do more than temporarily obstruct government projects.^[9]

Enforcement of Confederation (1874-1877)

Starting in 1874, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Carnarvon, having recently federated Canada, began a project to impose the very same system of confederation on the very different states of southern Africa. This was to consolidate European control of southern Africa and bring about a united policy towards the Black African inhabitants. Lord Carnarvon also expressed an interest in making Paterson the next Cape Prime Minister, in order to bring this about.^[10]

There was little local enthusiasm for the project, and its timing was particularly unfortunate – coming when the various southern African states were still simmering after the last bout of British imperial expansion. However Carnarvon was determined, and appointed

The confederation scheme was dropped, having by now spawned a trail of wars across southern Africa – including new frontier wars against the

Paterson died suspiciously on his way back to the Cape in May 1880 in a bizarre double-shipwreck. He initially twice delayed his departure, missing ships, before he boarded the ship the Union R.M.S. American. The American was then dramatically wrecked off West Africa, when its propeller-shaft snapped, bent and tore open part of the ship's plating. The passengers evacuated the ship in an ordered way before it sank but, adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, the lifeboats became separated. The passengers were all later found and rescued. However, Paterson's lifeboat was separately picked up by the Senegal which then ran aground on the coast of Grand Canary Island. In the chaos following this second shipwreck, Paterson was reported to have been struck by a hard object (reportedly the ship's propeller) and killed. He was the only casualty from the two shipwrecks.^[12][13][14]

Upon news of Paterson's death, flags across the Cape were flown at half mast. His obituary in the

Writer Stanley Little commented on Paterson's death and political style in his 1887 work on the Cape's political leaders.

He never attained to the position to which his ambition led him to aspire, but lost his life, in a sad manner, on his voyage out to the Cape. The American, in which vessel he took his passage, sustained shipwreck, but he escaped in the Senegal, which ship grounded a few days afterwards, and Mr Paterson went to the bottom. He represented Port Elizabeth in the Assembly, and was for some time the leader of the Opposition. He was an able man, but some severe things were said about him, which on the wholesome principle de mortuis nil nisi bonum, I shall not repeat. He was a firm Confederationist, and took the Eastern view of matters in the East versus West controversy. He could speak well, and would have been worth listening to, had it not been for a certain ugly mannerism. His delivery too, was dry and cold, and very trying, and he had moreover, been unsuccessful in his efforts to cure himself of the sing-song tin-kettle brogue of the bourgeoisie Scotchman. Mr Paterson had been a schoolmaster, and in good sooth, he retained a pedagogic style to the last.

— James Stanley Little, South Africa: A Sketchbook of Men, Manners and Facts (1887) Swan, Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co. London. pp.333-334

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See also

Wikisource has original works by or about:
John Paterson

• Eastern Cape Separatist League
• History of Cape Colony from 1870 to 1899
• Grey High School

References

1. ^ "History of Grey Highschool". Archived from the original on 11 September 2009.
2. ^ "History of the Eastern Cape Herald Newspaper and John Paterson".
3. ^ "The Worlds Top Banks. Standard Bank".
4. ^ Wilmot 1897, p. Vol 1:pp 142, 227.
5. ^ "Standard Bank. History" (PDF).^{[permanent dead link]}
6. ^ Molteno 1900, p. 214.
7. ^ Walker 1929, pp. 488.
8. ^ Wilmot 1897, p. Vol 2:p 125.
9. ^ Henry & Siepmann 1963.
10. ISBN 0-947008-90-X
    . p.182, "Confederation from the Barrel of a Gun"
11. ^ "The History of South Africa from 1795 to 1846". April 1903.
12. ^ Wilmot 1897, p. Vol 2:p 124.
13. ^ "Historical Facts". pe.org.za. Archived from the original on 25 June 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
14. ^ "Shipwrecks. The Paterson family". 29 May 2010.
15. ^ "Paterson, Eastern Cape". Archived from the original on 13 October 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.

• Walker, Eric Anderson (1929). The Cambridge History of the British Empire. CUP Archive.
• Wilmot, Alexander (1897). The History of Our Own Times in South Africa: v.1. 1872-1879.- v.2. 1880-1888.- v.3. 1889-1898. J.C. Juta.
• ISBN 978-1-277-74131-5
  .
• Henry, James A.; Siepmann, Harry A. (1963). The first hundred years of the standard bank: based upon unpubl. material. London: Oxford University Press.

Political offices
New title	Representative of Port Elizabeth 1854–1857	Succeeded by ???
Preceded by ???	Representative of Port Elizabeth 1873–1879	Succeeded by ???