She was a film buff who enjoyed Disney films and, by Sir Les' own account, they had met at a matinée screening of Fantasia. They subsequently had two children, Karen and Craig. Members of the Patterson family have occasionally assisted Sir Les in his business ventures. When he founded the Thursday Island Film Commission in 1978, his wife Lady Gwenneth was appointed as director, his daughter Karen as secretary, and his sister Lois as creative liaison co-ordinator. According to Father Gerard Patterson, Karen later took a position at Our Lady of Dolours School for Ridiculously Slow Learners, in South Sydney, while her brother Craig was employed for the Australian Wheat Board, where, in 2008, his work had "recently attracted unfair publicity". In 1976, Les Patterson received a knighthood "for services to Australian culture" as part of the New Year's Honours List. Sources differ, however, in regard to its precise designation. The sleeve notes to Patterson's 1985 LP, 12 Inches of Les, identify him a KBE (Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire), while his own signature, as seen in the preface to his book The Traveller's Tool, identifies him as a KCB (Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath). However, since the Order of the Bath is mostly bestowed on military and civil service personnel, a KBE is most likely to be the correct knighthood conferred as that is keeping with actual practice. In various published sources, Les Patterson has listed his hobbies as "pocket billiards and sauna construction in Thailand" (according to a 1995 programme bio) and "wine tasting and infidelity" (according to a 2005 CV). Professional life Over a career of more than four decades, Sir Les Patterson has held numerous positions in the public and private sector, including the following: Employee in the Office of Custom and Excise (Literature Division) (1960s) Minister for Shark Conservation (1960s) Minister for Drought under the Gough Whitlam administration (early 1970s) Cultural Attaché to the Far East (1974) Cultural Attaché to the Court of St James's (1975–76) Minister for Inland Drainage and Rodent Control Chairman and Treasurer of the Thursday Island Film Commission (by 1978) Member of the Government Select Committee into the High Incidence of Transvestism in the Yartz (arts) (by 1978) Chairman of the Australian Cheese Board (by 1978) Chairman of the Australian Chapter of the International Cheese Board (by 1985) Chairman of the Australian Fillum Facility