Walter Patterson was the first British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

 Governor

Lieutenant-Governors of Prince Edward Island

The following is a list of the Governors and Lieutenant Governors of Prince Edward Island, known as St. John's Island until 1799. Though the present day office of the lieutenant governor in Prince Edward Island came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1873, the...

 of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

.

Birth and life in the military

Little is known of Patterson's early years, although his reported place of birth is Foxhall, Letterkenny

Letterkenny

Letterkenny , with a population of 17,568, is the largest town in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in Ireland. The town is located on the River Swilly...

, County Donegal

County Donegal

County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Patterson joined the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 early in life, participating in the Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 with the 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot

80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot

The 80th Regiment of Light-Armed Foot was the first light infantry regiment in the British Army.-History:The regiment was created in 1758 by Colonel Thomas Gage, and was known as Gage's Light Infantry or "leathercaps"...

. He was soon appointed to the rank of Captain

Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)

Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...

.

Governor

In 1763, Prince Edward Island (then known as St. John's Island) was ceded to the British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 by the French

Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...

, and it became a British colony.

In 1764, Patterson requested grants to own land on the island, and he and his brother, John Patterson (father of future US Naval hero Commodore Daniel Patterson

Daniel Patterson

Daniel Todd Patterson was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War and the War of 1812.-Biography:...

), were awarded Lot 19, near the present-day town of Kensington

Kensington, Prince Edward Island

Kensington is a town located 15 kilometres northeast of Summerside in Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada; As of 2001, the population was 1,385....

, through the 1767 land lottery.

On May 30, 1769, the British Privy Council

Privy Council of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 declared St. John's Island a colony with its own government, separating it from Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. Patterson was appointed the island's first Governor on July 19, 1769 and arrived on the island on August 30, 1770.

Soon after taking the Oath of Office in September of 1770, Patterson had already formed an Executive Council

Executive Council (Canada)

Executive Councils in the provinces and territories of Canada are constitutional organs headed by the Lieutenant Governor.The Cabinet is an informal grouping within the Council, headed by a provincial Premier, whom hold de facto power over the body...

, and one of his and the council's first ordinances was to enforce the payment of Quit-Rent

Quit-rent

Quit rent , Quit-rent, or quitrent, in practically all cases, is now effectively but not formally a tax or land tax imposed on freehold or leased land by a higher landowning authority, usually a government or its assigns....

.

Following the first Assembly elections in 1773, Patterson acquired over 100000 acres (404.7 km²) of land from proprietors who had failed to pay their quit-rent. The land was to be sold off. The former proprietors wrote to the British government asking that their land be returned, and when this failed, they asked that Patterson be removed from office. This was to the first of several incidents which would cause tension between the British government and Governor Patterson.

Soon after the petitions were sorted through in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, the Secretary of State

Secretary of State

Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....

 from the British government wrote to Patterson, on July 24, 1783, ordering him to present a bill to the Assembly, one which Patterson was told he had to support. The bill was for the annulment

Annulment

Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...

 of the land sales. Going against the British government, Patterson opposed the bill and managed to receive a majority from the Executive Council, supporting his decision.

The British government retaliated by removing Walter Patterson from office, on June 17, 1786. He officially left office on November 4.

In 1789, Patterson returned to England where he died nine years later.

The issue of absentee landowners and quit-rent in Prince Edward Island would not be resolved untl the passage of the Land Purchase Act

Land Purchase Act (1875)

The Land Purchase Act, 1875 was a statute in Prince Edward Island, Canada passed by the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1875...

in 1875.