John Paterson (bishop of Ross)

The Right Reverend John Paterson
Bishop of Ross
Church	Church of Scotland
Diocese	Ross
In office	1662–1679
Predecessor	John Maxwell
Successor	Alexander Young
Orders
Consecration	7 May 1662, Holyrood Palace by James Sharp
Personal details
Born	1604 Scotland
Died	January 1679 Fortrose (?)
Spouse	Elizabeth Ramsay
Children	7
Alma mater	King's College, Aberdeen

John Paterson (1604–1679) was the Bishop of Ross in Scotland.

Life

Paterson graduated from King's College, Aberdeen in 1624, and was appointed to the church of Foveran, Aberdeenshire, in 1632. He refused to sign the National Covenant of 1639, and fled to England to the king. In July of the following year, however, he recanted in a sermon before the general assembly and was restored to his church at Foveran.

Paterson was a member of the commission of the assembly in 1644, 1645, 1648 and 1649. In 1661 he was named a commissioner for the visitation of the university of Aberdeen. In 1649 he had left Foveran to become minister of Ellon in Aberdeenshire. He was among the benefactors contributing to the erection of a new building at King's College, Aberdeen, in 1658.[1]

In 1659 Paterson was translated to the ministry of Aberdeen (the third charge). In 1662 he was appointed the Bishop of Ross, being consecrated on 7 May 1662 at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh. He was opposed to the preaching of the Covenanting Presbyterian John M'Gilligen.[2] He died in January 1679.

Family

Paterson was married to Elizabeth Ramsay, by whom he had six sons and a daughter. His children were John Paterson (Archbishop of Glasgow), George Paterson of Seafield (commissary); Sir William Paterson of Granton (barrister and clerk to the privy council); Thomas Paterson; Robert Paterson (principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen); James Paterson; and a daughter, Isabella, who married Kenneth Mackenzie of Suddie.[3]

References

1. Fasti Aberdonenses, Spalding Club, 1854, p. 541.
2. M'Crie, Thomas, D.D. the younger (1847). The Bass rock: Its civil and ecclesiastic history. Edinburgh: J. Greig & Son. p. 236. Retrieved 22 December 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
3. Gordon, Scots Affairs, Spalding, Memorials, and Diary of the Lairds of Brodie, all published by the Spalding Club; Guthrie, Memoirs; Scott, Fasti Eccl. Scot. iii. pp. 454, 602, 607.

Sources

• Keith, Robert, An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688, (London, 1824)
• Macray, W. D. (1895). "Paterson, John (1632-1708)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Pearce, A. S. Wayne, "Paterson, John (1604–1679)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 retrieved 10 May 2007

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Paterson, John (1632-1708)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Church of Scotland titles
Preceded by John Maxwell	Bishop of Ross 1662–1679	Succeeded by Alexander Young