He was educated at St Peter's School and was apprenticed to the Leahy Dock Ironworks, where he remained for about thirteen years.
[2] Patterson was in business as a coachbuilder, wheelwright, farrier, and general blacksmith, first in Karangahape Road and then in Upper Queen St.
He was a Justice of the Peace (from 1894) and a member of the Auckland Licensing Committee.
Patterson was re-elected a councillor in a by-election in 1908 by which time the ward system had been abolished in Auckland.
[4] Patterson died on 25 March 1923 at his residence in England Street, Ponsonby.