Paterson, Charles William, 1756-1841.

Charles William Paterson (1756-1841), British naval officer and ultimately Admiral of the White, began his career in North American waters serving under Admiral Lord Howe during the Revolutionary War. He was appointed to the store-ship Gorgon in 1793 and served under Lord Hood at Toulon Bay, was promoted post captain in January 1794, commanded the Ariadne and the Melpomene in the Mediterranean , and returned to England in 1795. In 1798 he was appointed to the Admiral de Vries and supervised its repair and refitting at the Chatham naval dockyard. From 1800 to 1802 Paterson commanded the Montagu and then the San Fiorenzo in the English Channel, and later in the war served at Portchester Castle and Spithead. He was promoted Vice Admiral in 1819, and Admiral of the White in 1837. Paterson married Jane Ellen Yeats in March 1801; they had at least one son, George Yeats Paterson, also an officer in the Royal Navy. Charles William Paterson died, probably at his home near Portsmouth, in March 1841.