William Patterson was born in Belfast and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Instution and Queen's College, Belfast. When he was sixteen he entered his father's linen business. He was one of the original members of Belfast Naturalists' Field Club and of Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society and served as president of both societies. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy and of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland. He served as Honorary Secretary of Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, of which he was a founder member. Some of his paintings were accepted for exhibition by the Belfast Arts Society. He had a fine collection of shell cameos, part of which he bequeathed to the city of Belfast. As a member of the English Dialect Society he published A Bibliography of Anglo-Irish Dialects and A Glossary of Words and Phrases used in Antrim and Down.

Born:	1835
Died:	1918