Sentence:  Mr John Puffingham was a patron—a patron to the diversified layers and strata of men and things pertaining to sublunary matters. He <WSD>patronised</WSD> his hatter, who, once a year, smoothed a cheap-and-shabby for his bald and shining brow. He <WSD>patronised</WSD> his tailor in the neighbourhood of the Minories. He <WSD>patronised</WSD> his washerwoman, his dustman—a pawnbroker he once <WSD>patronised</WSD> when an unexpected call was made upon his exhausted exchequer. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Customer) To make oneself a customer of a business, especially a regular customer.