Who are the PATTERSONs?
Frank Adam, in his book The Clans, Septs & Regiments of
the Scottish Highlands (Johnston & Bacon, Stirling, Scotland,
Eighth Edition, 1984, First Published, 1908), includes in
Clan MacLAREN septs:
PATERSON,
MacPATRICK. -- In bonds of manrent given by the MacLARENs to
the CAMPBELLs of Glenurchy in 1559, and also in
1573, occurs the name of "MacPATRICK". PATERSON is
but a Lowland rendering of the same name. MacPHATER and MacFEAT
are equated with PATERSON.
Alan McNie, in Clan MacLaren
Cascade Publishing Company, Jedburgh, Scotland, 1986) includes
under associated names of Clan MacLAREN:
PAT(T)ERSON;
MacFATER, MacFEAT, MacPATRICK and MacPHATER, Gaelic variables of
PAT(T)ERSON. Many PAT(T)ERSONs with early origins in MacLAREN
county are considered associated names. The name PAT(T)ERSON
is one of the most frequently occurring surnames in Scotland.
Note that McNie does not use the term sept. I understand
that sept is really a misnomer when applied to the Scots (it is an
Irish term). What are normally called the septs of a clan consist
of a variety of surnames -- some spelling variations of the clan
name (such as Law in our case), some other families that sought
the protection of a larger clan, and some that actually derived in
some fashion from the parent surname. According to Margaret
MacLaren (mother of our Clan Chief), the latter is the case for
PATTERSON. In The MacLarens, A History of Clan Labhran (Lowe and
Brydone Ltd., Thetford, Norfolk, Great Britain, Second Edition,
1976) she discusses the Septs of Clan Labhran:
The second
group includes the largest and best known sept of the clan the
PAT(T)ERSON, with the Gaelic variations, MacFATER, MacFEAT, MacPATRICK
and MacPHATER. The earliest reference to a PATERSON is to Duncan
PATERSON who was implicated with other MacLARENs in the killing
of the Vicar of Balquhidder in 1532. He may be the Duncan, son
of Patrik M'EWYN V'LAURANE mentioned in the Bond of Manrent of
1559 but both Duncan and Patrick were favourite MacLAREN names and it
is not possible to make a positive identification. There were of course
PATERSONs from other parts of Scotland who were not MacLARENs
but those from Balquhidder and Strathearn belong to Clan Labhran.
So the origin of the PATTERSON surname in Clan MacLAREN
could be from descendants of this Patrick MacLAREN (PATTERSON means son of
Patrick). Or the PATTERSON surname could have risen a number of
times from various Patricks in Clan MacLAREN. In any case, the
PATTERSON surname is long associated with Clan MacLAREN.
Margaret MacLaren makes an interesting point in the
paragraph above. She notes that PATTERSON is not necessarily
a MacLAREN surname. Philip D. Smith, in Tartan For Me!
(Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, Maryland, 1992,
Expanded Fifth Edition), shows PAT(T)ERSON associated with four
other clans -- LAMONT, MacAULAY, CAMPBELL, and FARQUHARSON.
In these cases, the surname most likely also arose from a son of a
Patrick. Frank Adam does give some explanation for the name
PATTERSON in three of these four other clans. For Clan LAMONT, Adam
states:
MacPATRICK, PATRICK . -- The above are aliases
of the LAMONTs, descended from Baron MacPATRICK, who was the
ancestor of the LAMONTs of Cowstone.
For Clan MacAULAY,
Adam writes:
MacPHEDRON, MacPHEIDIRAN. -- By both Buchanan the
historian, and MacIan, the MacPHEIDIRANs are alluded to as a sept
of the MacAULAYs of Ardincaple, Dunbartonshire.
For Clan CAMPBELL, Adam has:
MacPHEDRAN. -- The name
of a small Argyllshire sept, whose ancestor, Dominic MacFEDERAN,
was, by the 1st Lord CAMPBELL of Lochow, granted the lands of
Port Sonochan on Loch Awe, along with the office of "porter
and hereditary ferrier" (i.e. "Ferryman").
Adam, in his discussion of the septs of Clan FARQUHARSON,
does not show any PATTERSON, or any surname that could be
translated as PATTERSON. Therefore, I don't know where Philip
Smith derived the association of PATTERSON with Clan FARQUHARSON.
Finally, given the frequency of the appearance of the
PATTERSON surname, I suspect that this surname also arose
at other times and places in Scotland.
The PAT(T)ERSON/MacPATRICK
surname has a number of spelling variants, as can be seen from the
discussion above. (Remember, not too long ago spelling was a
creative art, especially when an English speaker tried to write down
Gaelic names!) Smith does list a number of such variants associated
with Clan MacLAREN. These are:
MacFADE MacPHAIT
MacFAIT
MacPHAT(T)ER
MacFAT(T)ER PATRICK
MacFATE PEATRIE
MacFEAT
PEATRY
MacFEET PETERSON
MacPEETERS PETRIE
MacPETRIE PETRY
MacPETRY
(I'm sure
that if we
sat down and
concentrated
we could
come up with
more
possible
variants.)
While most
of these
names are
variants of
PAT(T)ERSON/MacPATRICK,
in at least
one case,
the name
does not
have to
derive from
PATTERSON.
The surname
PETERSON can
be a
spelling
variant of
PATERSON;
however,
PETERSON
also means
son of Peter
and is a
common
Germanic
surname. I
would expect
the latter
explanation
as the
origin of
most
PETERSONs.
So much for
the
question,
who are the
PATTERSONs?
Now for the
second
question --
"I'm a
PATTERSON
(or PATRICK,
or MacFEAT,
or ...) and
want to know
of what clan
are my
PATTERSONs?"
Because of
the
widespread
occurrence
of the
surname,
this is not
an easy
question to
answer.
Ideally, you
would have
to trace
back your
ancestors to
their
original
territory in
Scotland and
then find
out what
clan was in
that area
(if indeed
your
PATTERSONs
were
associated
with a
clan). This
may prove to
be a very
difficult,
or
impossible,
task. Clan
MacLAREN,
however,
welcomes all
PATTERSONs.
The Clan
MacLaren
Society of
North
America has
a genealogy
committee
(see the
Society
Genealogy
Brochure for
more
details). I
am the
PATTERSON/
MacPATRICK
surname
genealogist
for Clan
MacLAREN.
However, I
am not just
tracking
those
PATTERSONs
who are
clearly
identified
as being
MacLARENs
(since this
is so
difficult to
do). As the
PATTERSON
surname
genealogist
for Clan
MacLAREN, I
will track
all
PATTERSONs.
I am
currently
building two
PATTERSON
databases --
PATTERSON
marriages
and
PATTERSON
immigrants.
I also have
acquired the
Social
Security
Master Death
List.
This Death
List is
quite an
interesting
resource.
There are
over 36,000
PATTERSONs
and 1,300
PATERSONs
listed,
giving
social
security
number, date
of birth and
date of
death.
Although
social
security is
relativity
new, some of
the births
precede
social
security by
many
decades. The
listings I
obtained
have 98
PAT(T)ERSONs
born between
1850 and
1859. Some
of these
individuals
lived quite
long lives.
For example,
Idesta
PATTERSON,
born 21
January
1857, died
December
1968 -- an
age of 111
years.
Idesta's
social
security
number was
issued in
California
and she most
likely died
in
California.
Delbert
PATTERSON,
born 30
March 1856,
died
December
1967, aged
111 years.
Delbert's
social
security
number is
one of those
issued to
railroad
workers.
I intend to
continue to
amass
information
on
PATTERSONs.
The more
information
I collect,
the more I
will be able
to help
PATTERSON
searchers
trace their
genealogy. I
do have an
extensive
genealogy
library and
am now
collecting
any and all
PATTERSON
information
that I can
find.
Hopefully,
this effort
will reach
critical
mass some
time in the
future and I
will be able
to help many
PATTERSON
searchers.
Let me
conclude by
asking for
your help.
If you have
PATTERSON/MacPATRICK
information
(or MacFEAT,
MacFATER,
MacPHATER,
etc.),
please send
me a copy.
Let me know
about your
family. If
you are a
genealogist,
send your
family group
sheets,
descendant
charts,
pedigree
charts, as
well as
copies of
your source
records.
(Send me
your
questions
and dead
ends also --
I'll see
what I can
do to help.)
With your
cooperation,
I'll be able
to built a
PATTERSON/MacPATRICK
database
that will be
of help to
all.
Patterson/MacPatrick Surname Genealogist
Robert D.
McLarenMEMBERSHIP
If you are a Patterson by
any name and are of Scots descent, you are eligible to join the Clan
MacLaren Society of North America. To join,
drop by the Clan MacLaren tent at a Highland Games or
download an application from the "Membership Information"
page on this site, or join on-line through the "Join CMSNA"
link on this site. Don't forget -- when you join, please provide a
copy of your genealogy so we can add to our records |
