He was born circa 1659,[1] the son of the lawyer and writer to the signet Hugh Paterson and his wife Elizabeth Kerr.

[3] The Patersons were staunch Royalists and James VII gave Hugh the title of Baronet of Bannockburn.

[4] After Hugh Paterson's death on 21 December 1701, his son, the Second Baronet attainted his Baronetcy by being an open and fierce Jacobite, but he lived on at Bannockburn House.

In a brief stay at the house, Charles Edward Stuart met the 2nd Baronet's niece, Clementina Walkinshaw, who would eventually be the Young Prince's lover and mother of his daughter.

His son and successor, Sir Hugh Paterson, 2nd Baronet married Jane Erskine, daughter of the Earl of Mar and sister of James Erskine, Lord Grange bringing both Hugh and Jane into contact with James' notorious wife, Rachel Chiesley, Lady Grange.