William Rogerson

William Paterson Rogerson (1860 – March 31, 1939) was a Newfoundland businessman and politician. As a member of the Conservative Party supporting premier James S. Winter, Rogerson was the member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly (MHA) for Bay de Verde from 1897 to 1900. Rogerson spent much of his subsequent career as a supervisor of lighthouses for the Dominion of Newfoundland.

Business career

Rogerson was born in St. John's to a wealthy merchant family as the son of James J. Rogerson, then the member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for Burin, and Emma Garrett Rogerson (née Blaikie). He was educated at the local Methodist College in St. John's before going to the New College in Eastbourne, England where he graduated in 1880. Rogerson initially went to New York City and worked for the shipping business Inman International Navigation Company. In 1894, he returned to St. John's to assist his aging retired father with the family business Peter Rogerson and Son following the cataclysmic Newfoundland bank crash. He married Leah Syme in 1895 and the couple had four daughters.