20 Facts About Thomas Paterson

Thomas Paterson was an Australian politician who served as deputy leader of the Country Party from 1929 to 1937.

Thomas Paterson held ministerial office in the governments of Stanley Bruce and Joseph Lyons, representing the Division of Gippsland in Victoria from 1922 to 1943.

Thomas Paterson played a leading role in the creation of the Victorian Country Party as the political arm of the Victorian Farmers' Union.

Thomas Paterson was the son of Scottish parents Elizabeth Mitchell and George Paterson.

Thomas Paterson left school after his father's death in 1897 and began working for footwear retailer Morton's, his father's former employer.

Thomas Paterson worked in England and Scotland as a shoe salesman and branch manager, resigning in 1908 in order to immigrate to Australia.

Together with four other family members, Thomas Paterson arrived in Melbourne in December 1908.

The brothers developed a mixed farm on scientific principles, while Thomas Paterson bred Clydesdale horses.

Thomas Paterson joined the Victorian Farmers' Union in 1916 as a member of the Springfield branch, and was elected vice-president in 1920 and state president in 1922.

Thomas Paterson joined the Victorian Farmers' Union in 1916, became its president in March 1922 and in November 1922 chaired a conference that led to the creation of the Victorian Country Party.

Thomas Paterson stood unsuccessfully for the Senate in the 1919 elections and for the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1920 but in 1922 elections he won the federal seat of Gippsland, defeating the Nationalist George Wise.

Thomas Paterson's victory was one of several Country Party gains that forced the Nationalists to go into Coalition with the Country Party in order to stay in office.

Thomas Paterson was Minister for Markets and Migration from June 1926 to January 1928, Minister for Markets from January to December 1928 and Minister for Markets and Transport from December 1928 to October 1929.

Thomas Paterson was deputy leader of the parliamentary Country Party from 1929 to 1937, under Earle Page, and was acting leader for several months in 1933 following the death of Page's son.

Thomas Paterson was appointed Minister for the Interior in the Lyons coalition government in November 1934.

Thomas Paterson remained prominent in Country Party affairs and helped form a breakaway party from the Victorian Country Party that was loyal to the federal parliamentary Country Party in March 1938.

Thomas Paterson helped reconcile the federal and Victorian parties in 1943, but did not stand for re-election in 1943 elections.

Thomas Paterson married Elsie Jane Tyrrell in 1908, one day before the couple migrated to Australia.

Thomas Paterson died at his home in McKinnon on 24 January 1952, after an illness of three months.

Thomas Paterson was granted a state funeral and cremated at Springvale Cemetery.