Born in the manse at Kinghorn, Fife, on 8 March 1811, Paterson was educated at St Andrews University before moving to Glasgow in 1830. He worked in the legal office of McGrigor & Co before becoming a junior partner, in 1837, in the firm of Hugh and Robert Moncrieff.
He became the trusted adviser of many of Glasgow's first commercial firms, and was much consulted after the great commercial crash of 1857.
A desire to help the sons and daughters of the manse led to a long involvement in the Sons of the Clergy Society. He was its secretary for 33 years apart from 1858 when he served as president. In his later years he lived at Springhall, near Rutherglen.
DR. PATERSON was a native of Fifeshire, and a true son of the manse, having been born on 8th March, 1811, in the manse of Kinghorn, of which parish his father was minister for thirty-one years. His affection and kindly feeling for the sons and daughters of other manses of the Kirk of Scotland found in after years a ready outlet in his labour of love for the Society of the Sons of the Clergy, of which hereafter. He was educated at St. Andrews University, and in recognition of his eminent legal position it conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1871. When about nineteen years of age he came to Glasgow in 1830, and entered the office of Messrs. McGrigor Murray & McGrigor, writers, who occupied one of the first positions in Glasgow, and whose reputation and standing are continued, after the lapse of half a century, in the existing firm of McGrigor Donald & Co.
He remained for nearly seven years in the office of Messrs. McGrigor & Co., and by his steady and unwearied atttention to his duties and the gradual development of qualities fitted to make a good and sound lawyer and professional adviser, obtained the highest position in their office, and secured the thorough confidence of his employers. In 1837, when in his twenty-seventh year, he was selected by the late Mr. Hugh Moncrieff and his brother Robert from the young legal aspirants of the time to fill the place of junior partner - the firm being Moncrieffs & Paterson, for many years thereafter known in succession, on the assumption of new partners, as Moncrieff Paterson & Forbes; and Moncrieff Paterson Forbes & Barr; and still represented by the influential and important firm of Moncrieff Barr Paterson & Co.
It would occupy more space than is available to specify one tithe of the important commercial questions and undertakings in reference to which appeals were made to Adam Paterson for guidance and help. He was the trusted adviser and respected friend of many of the first commercial firms in the city, and for more than thirty years occupied one of the highest places in the front rank of his profession. The grand qualities which characterized him were a genial and gentle kindness which endeared him to every one, and a generosity and an unselfishness which have left a loving recollection in the grateful hearts of those who were the recipients of his many favours.
When the great commercial crash of 1857 occurred, and the failure of the Western Bank brought ruin to many a comfortable home, Mr. Paterson was much consulted in the complications and difficulties which arose out of that unfortunate downfall. In particular, he was the adviser of most of the directors in the painful position in which they were placed, and ultimately undertook, in conjunction with the late Mr. George Smith, who acted for the Deputy-Governor, their defence in the numerous actions raised against them by shareholders and liquidators. How wisely and judiciously he performed the labour undertaken, and with what success these exertions were crowned, was well known and appreciated at the time, but it was at the sacrifice of not only days but also nights of incessant work.
His early recollections of his own paternal home at Kinghorn, and his desire to benefit and help the sons and daughters of the manse, led him to take at an early period a strong and life-enduring interest in the Sons of the Clergy Society. He became a member of the society, and for the long period of thirty-three years was its zealous and efficient secretary, except during the year 1858, when he occupied the position of president. When he joined the society its fund amounted to £6,684, and when he died they had reached the sum of £14,129. No widow, son, or daughter of the manse ever went to him with a tale of the pinching want and hard struggle many of them have to bear, without meeting a kind and gentle listener and receiving a ready response to their appeal. In all the operations of the society he was for many years cordially and ably supported by its treasurer, Mr. William Auld, another worthy son of the manse.
Those who had the pleasure of enjoying his hospitality at Springhall, near Rutherglen, where he resided during the last twenty-seven years of his life, can never forget the hearty welcome and geniality which pervaded all his social entertainments.
If ever the lives of the Deans of the Faculty of Procurators of Glasgow come to be written, no one up to this time will hold a higher place than Adam Paterson. His high reputation as an able and acute lawyer and accomplished gentleman had for many years placed him in the front rank of his profession, and without a dissentient voice he was chosen to succeed Mr. Towers-Clark as Dean, on the sudden death of that gentleman in 1870. To the tact and dignity with which he discharged the duties of the office all members of the Faculty who now survive him will bear a ready testimony.
He was one of the "trusty and well-beloved" to whom, in 1878, a Royal Commission was intrusted to inquire into the constitution and jurisdiction of the various courts for the administration of justice - civil and criminal - in Scotland, and he took an active and warm interest in the work intrusted to his fellow-labourers and himself. The results of the inquiry were five reports, a large body of evidence and sundry important recommendations, which were followed by some useful reforms in judicial procedure.
Dr. Paterson died on 1st July, 1881, survived by his wife and a numerous family. After his death his bust in marble, by George E. Ewing, was presented to the Faculty of Procurators, and is now in the Faculty Library. It was the gift of friends who had received their professional training in his office.
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