I whānau a Catherine McKay i Putataka pea, i te pūaha o Waikato, i te tau 1842. Ko te tamaiti tuatoru ia a John Horton McKay, he kaitiaki toa, rāua ko Irihāpeti. Ko Waikato, ko Ngāti Pūkeko ki Whakatāne ōna iwi. Nā Pīhopa Herewini (G. A. Selwyn) a ia rātou ko ōna tungāne, tuākana, tāina – tokorua ngā mea tāne, tokorua hoki ngā mea wāhine – i iriiri i te 28 o Hune i te tau 1846. I kuraina ngā tamariki a McKay ki ngā kura mīhana i Maraetai me Te Kōhanga, i raro i te whakahaere a Te Mānihera (Robert Maunsell). E rua ngā tama i puta hei kaiwhakamāori whakamiramira. I ako a Catherine ki te whakatangitangi piana, ki te tiaki kāinga, tae atu ki te tiaki tūroro hoki. Ka huri ia hei Karaitiana tūturu. I te 29 o Oketopa 1860, i Waitetuna, i te takiwā o Whāingaroa, ka moe ia i tētahi tangata tiaki kararehe, ko William Carran te īngoa.
I te tau 1861, nā te mea kei mau ia ki roto ki ngā riri i Waikato, ka rere a William mā runga i te kaipuke ki Campbelltown i Awarua (Bluff) ki te whakamātau i te keri kōura i Kapuka. Nō muri i tana tīmatanga ki te mahi mā Archibald Campbell rāua ko tana taina (tuakana rānei) ko James i te teihana o Waimāhaka, ka tonoa atu e ia a Catherine kia haere mai. Ka whakakaha te wahine rā i a ia, ka rere mai rāua ko tana tamaiti tāne, ka whakaheke atu i te awa o Waikato mā runga i te poti; kātahi ka eke ki runga i te kaipuke mai i Onehunga ki Ōtepoti. I tuhituhi rawa ia ki tana tāne i mua o tana rewanga ki Campbelltown mā runga i te Star of Dunedin; te taenga ki reira, kāore ia i reira ki te tūtaki mai i a ia. Kotahi wiki ia e tatari ana kia tīkina atu ia, kātahi ia ka tahuri ki te takahi i tana huarahi, 25 māero te tawhiti, tōna haerenga atu mā te takutai moana me te waha haere anō i tana pōtiki. Nō te pō tuatahi, ka moe ia i roto i tētahi whare hēpara; nō te pō tuarua, ko te taha tonu ia o te ahi pūwai moe ai i runga i ngā tāhuahua i rāwāhi atu o Fortrose. Nō te ata, ka tae atu te kaiwhakahārau kararehe o reira, a James Wybrow, ki te hoe atu i a rāua ki tōna kāinga. Ka manaakitia a Catherine i reira, ā, tae noa ki te wā i haria atu ai ia e Wybrow ki a William, me te harakoa hoki o te tāne i te kitenga i a ia. Kāore kē ia i whiwhi i tana reta.
Ko te mahi a Catherine Carran, he tiaki kāinga i te teihana i Waimāhaka, he tunu kai mā ngā Campbell, mā ngā kaimahi maha me ngā manuhiri hoki; kātahi kitea rawatia ake he taumaha rawa te mahi nei māna. Ka mutu, kātahi ka wera te tēneti a ngā Carran, ā, ngaro katoa ā rāua taputapu. Kāore i pau te tau, ka heke rātou, ina ka rua ā rāua tamariki i nāianei, ki te whare waka kōpikopiko i Fortrose noho ai. E ono tau a William Carran e noho ana i te pūaha o Mataura hei tangata ārahi i te waka. He whakahaere kāinga noho anō tētahi mahi ā rāua, me te hoko wai piro, kai atu hoki ki ngā iwi i runga i te raihana i riro mai i a rāua.
He pātaritia nō William rāua ko Catherine Carran e te kōura me te mahi pāmu, koirā ka taki heke me ā rāua tamariki tokoono (tokotoru ngā mea tāne, tokotoru ngā mea wāhine), ki tētahi pāmu i Seaward Bush, e 50 eka te nui. Heoti, i toremi a William ki te wai e tata ana ki te whanga o Awarua i Hune o te tau 1871, ā, i hoki ai a Catherine ki Fortrose noho ai i runga i tētahi whenua i hokona mai i ngā Wybrow. Kātahi ka haere mai tana tungāne a Ben McKay hei uruora mōna, noho tonu ia ki reira. Ka tīmata a Catherine ki te toro haere i ngā wāhine a ngā tāngata whai ki te whakaora i ngā mea e māuiui ana. He māmā ki a ia te haere tawhiti mā raro, tae rawa ki Waihopai (Invercargill), 30 māero te tawhiti, ki te iriiri i āna tamariki.
Nō te takiwā ki te tau 1872, ka hokona e Catherine he pāmu iti nei, ka hangaia tōna whare, ā, nō te 11 o Noema 1872 ka moe rāua ko William Henry Patterson i te tari rēhita i Mataura ki te taha whakararo; he kaipoka whenua te tāne, i heke mai i Amerika. Tokowhitu rawa ā rāua tamariki i whānau mai (e ono ngā mea tāne, kotahi te kōtiro). Nō muri i te tau 1883, ka heke a William Patterson ki Clifden. I mate ia ki Riverton i te 9 o Hūrae 1910.
I taua wā anō, i te haere tonu a Catherine i āna mahi tiaki kāinga, whakawhānau tamariki hoki i Fortrose. Nō runga i āna tini manaakitanga ka arohatia e te katoa. I kīia ai he kāinga manaaki tāngata tōna, ā, hora tonu ai te tēpu. I piripono ia ki te Hāhi Mihingare, ā, pānui ai ia i tana Paipera ia pō, ia pō. Ahakoa he wahine pakupaku ia, he wahine mārōrō, ā, koi hoki te hinengaro. Nuku atu i te 90 ōna tau, e kaha tonu ana te tinana. I mate ia i tōna kāinga i te 6 o Noema 1935; kātahi nei te tangihanga nui whakamiramira i kitea ai i Fortrose.
I whai wāhi atu a Catherine Patterson ki te mura o te ahi i te raki, ki te keringa kōura, ki te mahi pāmu hipi, pāmu pakupaku hoki. He kaiwhakawhānau tamariki, he nēhi atu hoki a ia i te rohe e nōhia haeretia ana e te tangata. Tōna whītikitanga hoki ki te pīkau i ngā mahi nei, kei whea rawa mai. I whakatupuria e ia āna tamariki i runga i te manaaki tika; ka nui ōna uri.