William Paterson (banker)

thumb|William Paterson, from a [[Wash (visual arts)|wash drawing in the British Museum]]

William Paterson (April 1658 - 22 January 1719) was a Scottish trader and banker. He was a founding member of the Bank of England and was one of the main proponents of the catastrophic Darien scheme. Later he became an advocate of union with England.

Biography

Early life

William Paterson was born in his parents' farmhouse at Tinwald in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and lived with them until he was seventeen, when he emigrated first (briefly) to Bristol and then to the Bahamas, although accounts differ as to the duration of his stays. During his time in the West Indies he first conceived the idea of the Darién scheme, his plan to create a colony on the isthmus of Panama, facilitating trade with the Far East.

Career

Paterson returned to Europe by the middle of the 1680s, and attempted to convince the English government under James II to undertake the Darién scheme. On his return to Scotland in December 1699, he became instrumental in the movement for the Union of Scotland and England, culminating in his support of the Act of Union 1707. He spent the last years of his life in Westminster, and died in January 1719. A mystery still surrounds the burial site of Paterson. Many (including officials at the Bank of England), believe he is buried in Sweetheart Abbey, New Abbey, Dumfries and Galloway.

Publications

Proposals and Reasons for Constitulating a Council of Trade (1701), a plan to create a Scottish council of Trade which would stimulate the Scottish economy and trade, partly by abolishing export duties.
A Proposal to plant a Colony in Darién to protect the Indians against Spain, and to open the Trade of South America to all Nations (1701), a broader version of the Darién scheme intended to bring free trade to all of Central and South America.
Wednesday Club Dialogues upon the Union (1706), a series of imaginary dialogues in which Paterson expressed his beliefs that Scotland had to be guaranteed equal taxation, freedom of trade and proportionate representation in Parliament if union with England was to succeed.

In fiction and drama

William Paterson is the central character in Eliot Warburton's novel, Darien, or, The Merchant Prince (1852). He also features in Douglas Galbraith's novel, The Rising Sun (2000), and Alistair Beaton's play, Caledonia (2010).