Captain William Paterson, soldier, explorer and naturalist, arrived in the colony, with his wife Elizabeth, in October 1791. He served on Norfolk Island as commander of the NSW Corps, returning to Sydney in March 1793. In 1796 Paterson returned to England, with Elizabeth, on sick leave.

Before their return to New South Wales in 1799, the Patersons sat for their portraits, painted by fashionable society artist William Owen. In this portrait Paterson wears the uniform of a Lieutenant Colonel in the NSW Corps.

It is likely, however, that this portrait is a copy of the original portrait, which is now in the Art Gallery of NSW.