Margaret (Purdon) Patterson (1827-1901) The “Gaelic Grandmother” of Central Park

Margaret (Purdon) Patterson left her native Scotland to live in the newly formed municipality of Burnaby, British Columbia in 1894. Her last years were spent living in a rustic farmhouse built by her son Dugald Campbell Patterson near Westminster Road (now Kingsway) and a trail cleared by her son and later named “Patterson Avenue.” Today their 5-acre property serves the community as part of Burnaby’s Central Park.

Margaret Purdon was born in the ancient village of Partick, Scotland on February 18, 1827. Partick, with roots that date back to the fifth century Strathclyde Kingdom, is where Margaret’s family engaged in farming, spoke fluent Gaelic and were members of the Quaker religion. Her parents were Andrew Purdon and Annabella McNicol.The Purdon’s (originally spelled “de Purdome”) were first recorded in the area in 1454 and were considered to be prominent. By 1711 the Purdon’s had donated land for the Partick Cemetery, and nearby Purdon Street was also named for the family.

Margaret Purdon married John Murdoch Paterson of Rutherglen, Scotland, on April 14, 1854. Her husband was a shipbuilder on the Clyde River, and was a landscape painter. After the death of her husband, Margaret came to live with her son Dugald and his family in Burnaby. She, like her son, added a second “t” to the spelling of her last name.

Although Margaret suffered from diabetes and became blind, she contributed much to the family’s original pioneer homestead as seen in the above painting by J.F Mackintosh Gow. After a life filled with hard work and adventure, Margaret (Purdon) Patterson died at the family farm on December 13, 1901, at the age of 74.

Biography by Raymond Reitsma, family historian.