George Paterson was born in 1887 at Kempsey, NSW. He was the son of the Reverend James Paterson who was the Presbyterian Minister at Kempsey. In 1890 the family moved to the Sydney suburb of Ashfield.
He had six brothers and one sister and a number of them went on to make their mark as adults. John Paterson MA followed his father into the Church and was a prominent Minister in Australia and New Zealand. David Paterson was a Prosecutor in the Department of Justice in NSW and Donald Paterson worked for book publishers, Bloxham and Chambers.
After the First World War, George took a prominent role in the Returned Services League and became a successful businessman in the manufacturing sector.
