James Patherway

**Sir James Dawson Patherway**, FoA (24 October 1856 - 17 March 1937) was an Aurelian politician. He served as the first Prime Minister of Aurelia, the first Ambassador to Great Britain, and the co-founder of the modern Liberal Party of Aurelia and the Aurelian Independence Coalition.

Patherway entered into the world of politics shortly after graduating University by joining the Harwin Party, and quickly went up the ranks. In 1889, he officially declared his party the Liberal Party of Aurelia, and in 1903, he and his colleagues formed the Aurelian Independence Coalition, which successfully negotiated with Great Britain to turn Aurelia into a dominion on 19 March 1910 with the signing and ratification of the Treaty of Aurelia in Nelson, New Selkirk.

In 1943, he was also the first person to ever receive the honourary title of *Father of the Aurelians.*

## Biography

#### **Early life**

James Dawson Patherway was born on 24 October 1856 in New Brighton, New Alderney as the first out of three children to English parents William Patherway, an illiterate fisherman from Portsmouth and Martha Patherway (nee Dawson), a housewife and professional cook from Kingston upon Hull, who met William when she came to his fishing company in Portsmouth during a trip to feed the hungry. The two married in 1854, and shortly after had James in 1856.

For most of his very early life, Patherway helped his father's fishing company in the local bay while also attending multiple one-room schoolhouses, and being educated by his mother. By the age of 12, he attended over 10 schools, also motivating him to encourage compulsory education later in life. But, at the age of 14, his father died of pneumonia, forcing him, his two younger siblings and mother to move in with their uncle Robert Patherway, an influential rags-to-riches aristocrat who was also one of the founding MPs. Robert significantly influenced adolescent James's life; he encouraged him to join the local Parliament and become a member of the political system, and he got him enrolled into Queen Victoria Lutheran School, one of the best secondary schools in the Colony.

He graduated from there in 1874 at the age of 18 as dux of his class and School Captain of the Track & Field team, also meeting his future wife Bertha Samuel there as a classmate in his arithmetic class. He then decided to attend St. Anselm's College in Laurence Town, in which he graduated in his gifted class as one of the highest ranking in the school and with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, with one of his teachers commenting that "he had lots of vigour, determination and restlessness to work in the world of today." He then attended the prestigious Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and graduated with a Master's Degree in Public Administration and ranking above average.

#### **Personal life**

Around 1880, he married his former classmate Bertha Samuel, and had only two children with her before she died in 1893 of tuberculosis:

Robert John Patherway (1882-1949)

and Edwin Lennox Patherway (1887-1960).

He never married again after she died, stating that "she was the only one I truly loved and appreciated."

For most of his life, he claimed to be a general Anglican Protestant, and mostly never talked about his personal beliefs. However, during his elder years, he tried to re-kindle his his devoutness, often being spotted at local churches in Nelson and generally being more charitable, as he personally funded in a lot of Nelson-based organisations.