Peter Patterson was an Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 businessman and political figure. He represented York West

York West

York West is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1904 and since 1917.Its population was 110,384 in 2001...

 in Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

, Canada, from 1871 to 1883.

He was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire

Londonderry, New Hampshire

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,236 people, 7,623 households, and 6,319 families residing in the town. The population density was 555.8 people per square mile . There were 7,718 housing units at an average density of 184.6 per square mile...

 in 1825 and came to Canada West in 1849. Patterson and his brothers, operating as Patterson Brothers, manufactured agricultural equipment in the Richmond Hill

Richmond Hill, Ontario

Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...

 area. They also operated a sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

, gristmill

Gristmill

The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

, foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

 and blacksmith

Blacksmith

A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...

 shop. The company provided living quarters for their workers, a school and church near the factory. Peter served as reeve for Vaughan Township

Vaughan, Ontario

Vaughan is a city in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is the fastest growing municipality in Canada achieving a population growth rate of 80.2% between 1996–2006, according to Statistics Canada having nearly doubled in population since 1991. Vaughan is located in Southern...

 from 1868 to 1873. In 1886, the operation was relocated to Woodstock

Woodstock, Ontario

Woodstock is a city and the county seat of Oxford County in Southern Ontario, Canada. Woodstock is located 128 km southwest of Toronto, north of Highway 401 along the historic Thames River...

 to gain access to cheaper transportation via rail. The company was taken over by Massey-Harris in 1891.

External links

• Member's parliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
• Early Days in Richmond Hill
• http://www.canadiana.org/ECO/mtq?doc=32952The Canadian parliamentary companion and annual register, 1878, CH Mackintosh
  Charles H. Mackintosh
  Charles Herbert Mackintosh was a journalist, mayor of Ottawa from 1879–1881, represented Ottawa City as a Liberal-Conservative in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1887, and from 1890 to 1893, and served as Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories from 1893 to 1898.-Parentage and...
  
  ]