William Patterson was a 19th century engineer and boatbuilder.

Born in Arbroath, he moved to London where he learned his craft at the yard of William Evans. He then moved to Bristol where he worked for William Scott. When Scott became bankrupt, he took over his yard. He won the contract to design and build the SS Great Western

SS Great Western

SS Great Western of 1838, was an oak-hulled paddle-wheel steamship; the first purpose-built for crossing the Atlantic and the initial unit of the Great Western Steamship Company. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Great Western proved satisfactory in service and was the model for all successful...

 with Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...

.

He was also one of the designers of the SS Great Britain

SS Great Britain

SS Great Britain was an advanced passenger steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had previously been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first...

(again with Brunel), the world's first ocean-going ship to have an iron hull and a screw propeller.

External links

• "http://www.rpec.co.uk/engineerswalk/wp_walk.html Biographical information"