William Paterson (trade unionist)

He adopted a militant approach, and this led to increased wages and reduced hours for members of the union.

[3] Paterson was active in the campaign for universal male enfranchisement; he was the main organiser of a demonstration in Edinburgh in 1866, and was secretary of the city's branch of the Reform League for the following year.

He stood for Edinburgh Town Council's Canongate ward in 1870, as a Liberal-Labour candidate, coming only fifty votes behind his opponent.

He was a strict disciplinarian, insisted on sedulous attention to duty, but he did everything in his power to provide for the comfort of the staff, nor did he neglect to consider the necessity for facilities for healthful exercise, relaxation and amusement in the laying out of the stations which he had erected".

[4] In 1903, he was a founder of the Association of Professional Fire Brigade Officers of the British Empire, and he served as its president for the first two years.