Rectory Lane Cemetery, Berkhamsted

William Watson (188) 21/01/1850

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"Henry Hilder, twin son of William and Mary Watson, 21st January

1850, aged 10 mo.

also of William Watson, father of the above died 22nd January 1869 aged 74.

Mary Watson wife of the above, died 7th January 1905 aged 90.

Elizabeth Geill Watson, their daughter, died 19th October 1929 aged 83"

William Watson’s parentage and family

William Watson was born in 1794 at Greenhead Hall, Stanhope, county Durham, the eldest child of John and Ann Watson. He was baptised at the Norman church of St Thomas the Apostle, Stanhope on 28^th December 1794. His father, John Watson, had married Ann Coates, by licence, on 22^nd February 1791 at the small rural church of Hovingham, in Yorkshire.

John appears to have moved his family to St Pancras in London at some point between 1794 and 1798 when he is found paying land tax on a property in Little Howland Street, St Pancras Parish.

Once in London, John and Ann enlarged their family with the addition of four daughters and another son:

Their eldest daughter, Harriet, was born in Camberwell about 1798

Caroline Martha was born on 2^nd May 1802 and baptised on 2^nd June 1802 at St Pancras Old Church

Nancy was born on 18^th September and baptised on 17^th October 1805 at St Pancras Old Church

Edward Coates was born on 29^th October and baptised on 27^th November 1810 at St Pancras.

Emma Mary was born in Charlotte Street, St Pancras and baptised on 22^nd August 1815. By this time John Watson was calling himself a “Gent.”

Marc Isambard Brunel, father of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was a talented mechanical engineer, and did much to develop sawmill machinery, undertaking contracts for British Government at Chatham and Woolwich dockyards, building on his experience at the Portsmouth Block Mills. He built a sawmill on the banks of the Thames, at Battersea, which burnt down in 1814 and was rebuilt by 1816. This sawmill was designed to produce veneers, but its rebuilding probably contributed to the debts, that saw him in Southwark’s debtors’ prison in 1821. The sawmills were taken over by John & Joseph Watson & Company, sawyers and veneer-cutters, who remained in business there until about 1849. The remains of Brunel’s buildings appear to have remained in use and to have eventually been demolished with the rest of the site in the 1970s. The John and Joseph Watson who traded from the Battersea sawmills were William’s father, John and uncle, Joseph Watson.

It is unknown when Joseph Watson followed his elder brother from County Durham to London, but we do know that he was in Isleworth in 1825 when he married Amelia Farnell. Joseph appears to have been the more hands-on brother in the business, living in Battersea and then Chelsea, whilst William’s father, John, remained living in St Pancras. The business is recorded in trade directories from 1829 and throughout the 1830’s. The Pigot & Co.’s Directory of 1839 states that the Watson brothers were “veneer cutters”, whilst The Post Office Directory of 1845 has the entry “Watson, John & Joseph, sawmills” at Bridge Street, Battersea.

On 8th March 1830 William Watson was one of the witnesses to the marriage of his sister, Nancy. The status of the family is shown in small ways, as Nancy married her cousin, Harrison Watson, by licence, rather than the more low-cost banns. Trade was in the blood of the Watson men, as William’s brother-in-law/cousin was a merchant, whose business appears to have taken him and Nancy to Cape Town, whilst his brother, Edward Coates Watson, went into the family business as a veneer-cutter and cabinetmaker. William’s brother, Edward Coates Watson, appears to have remained in London, marrying Frederique Rebecca Chalon at St Pancras Church on 17^th November 1831, before settling in Bayswater. He later received the Freedom of the City of London on 22^nd May 1850.

In 1841 William’s parents and siblings were living in Fitzroy Street, Parish of St Pancras, Borough of Marylebone. The household consisted of William’s parents and three unmarried sisters, Harriet, Caroline, and Emma. John described himself as being of “Independent” means and had enough income to employ two domestic servants.

William Watson’s life and career

On 28^th May 1747 the ‘Act for the Relief and Support of maimed and disabled Seamen, and the Widows and Children of such as shall be killed, slain or drowned in the Merchants Service' was passed by the House of Lords.  This new scheme emerged because of the failure of Greenwich Hospital to provide for aged, sick or disabled merchant seamen. From a proposal provisionally entitled the 'Seamen in the Merchant's Service, Relief Bill', the intention of the Act was to ensure that seamen and their widows and orphans should receive life pensions contingent on the production of a 'certificate of hurt' or, in the case of illness or disease, a certificate of previous good health. The claimants had to have paid a minimum of five years' contributions. Apprentices, East India Company seamen (who had their own scheme), men under eighteen years of age, fishermen and those employed on river craft and undecked boats in the coastal trades were ineligible. The trustees of the Merchant Seamen's Fund were to be based in London, while committees would sit at the major ports.

On 17^th June 1816 the Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser made the following announcement:

A General Court of the President and Governors of the Corporation for Relief and Support of Sicke, Maimed and Disabled Seamen, and of the Widows and Children of such as such be Killed, Slain, or Drowned in the Merchants’ Service, will be held at this Office, on WEDNESDAY, the 19^th Inst. At Eleven o’clock in the Forenoon, for the Election of a president and Committee for the Year ensuing, and a Secretary and Receiver, in the room of William Oddy, resigned, and on other Affairs.

By Order of the President and Committee

WILLIAM WATSON

We cannot know how or why William Watson became involved with the Merchant Seamen’s Fund but by 17^th December 1816 he issued a notice from the Fund’s Office at the Royal Exchange in the City of London announcing the next “General Court of the president and Governors of the Corporation”. From this time and throughout the 1820’s William issued various notices in the Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser and the Morning Advertiser. Not only did the notices announce the annual general meetings and pension payments but they also called special meetings, for example:

“MERCHANT SEAMEN’S OFFICE, ROYAL EXCHANGE

December 8, 1824.

IN consequence of the numerous Shipwrecks that have occurred during the recent tempestuous weather, the Committee request a MEETING of MERCHANTS and others, at this Office, on TUESDAY, December 14, at Twelve o’Clock, to take into consideration the increased demands upon the Funds of this Institution. – The Chair will be taken at One precisely.

WILLIAM WATSON, Sec.”

The 1830’s would have been a turbulent time for William. By the early decades of the nineteenth century the Merchant Seamen’s Fund was 'beset by financial and administrative difficulties’, as the seagoing force grew larger it became increasingly unable to cope with the demands made upon it. The workforce grew by about a third between 1836 and 1846, and although seamen were paying a shilling a month into the Fund after 1835 instead of the traditional sixpence it became actuarially unsound for three main reasons. The Act of 1834 made Scots and Irish seamen eligible for pensions, and granted awards to widows so that by 1843 seamen's widows comprised over half of the pension list. Money was collected centrally, but disbursed locally, so that the greatest demand, and the smallest pension payments, were at the north-east ports where ageing seamen and young boys manned the coal fleet. Third, the Fund's greatest deficiency was that it was unable to provide pensions sufficient to maintain even the most modest standards in old age. Evidence given to the 1840 Select Committee on the Merchant Seamen's Fund had made this last point clear. The secretary of the Seamen's Loyal Standard Association at South Shields thought that £20 a year was the least sum on which a retired seamen could subsist, while William Watson, the secretary of the Merchant Seamen's Fund, testified that the London level of pensions was of the order of £10 a year for a retired master, between £4 and £7 for disabled seamen and £2-10s to £4 for widows. In the outports pensions were less generous. Dartmouth seamen got £1-10s a year, and the highest recorded amount was £13 a year. 2 The coasting ports, particularly those in the north-east, had a payment level of around 3/- a month, and although the Select Committee condemned unequal payments it did not recommend corrective legislation and the Board of Trade did not initiate any. On 5th February 1844 Gladstone, by now the President of the Board of Trade in Peel's administration, launched a further enquiry into the state of the Fund. He said in the House of Commons that seamen were at one and the same time a class which had strong claims on the sympathy of Parliament but were least in the habit of approaching it with an expression of opinion. He indicated that the basic financial structure and administration of the Fund was deficient, and much of the evidence to the 1844 Select Committee tended to confirm that judgement.

As well as the administrative difficulties that William had to deal with, the night of Wednesday 10^th January 1838 saw a major disaster as the Royal Exchange was destroyed by fire. Before the 1838 fire at the Exchange there was, on the stairs leading to Lloyd's, a monument to Captain Lydekker, the great benefactor to the London Seamen's Hospital. This worthy man was a shipowner engaged in the South Sea trade, and as some of his sick sailors were kindly treated in the "Dreadnought" hospital ship, in 1830, he gave a donation of £100 to the Society. On his death, in 1833, he left four ships and their stores, and the residue of his estate, after the payment of certain legacies. The legacy amounted to £48,434 16s. 11d. in the Three per Cents., and £10,295 11s. 4d. in cash was eventually received. The monument was destroyed by the fire in 1838, and new monument, by Mr. Sanders, sculptor, was executed for the entrance to Lloyd's rooms. The destruction of Royal Exchange meant that by 1843 the offices for the Merchant Seamen’s Fund were located at 25 Birchin Lane, St Michael Cornhill.

On 11th February 1851 William Watson in his role as secretary issued a “General Account of the Receipts and Payments of the Corporation for Relief of Seaman in the Merchants’ Service, their Widows and Children, for the Year 1850” from the offices at 25 Birchin Lane. This would be the last time that he issued such a statement, as on 8th August 1851 Parliament passed “An Act to amend the Acts relating to the Merchant Seamen’s Fund, and to provide for winding up the said Fund, and for the better Management thereof in the meantime”. The Act stated that “The Board of Trade shall undertake the general super vision of the business of winding up the fund in manner herein after mentioned; . . . and such board, may, for the purpose of carrying this Act into execution, appoint such officers, clerks, and servants as it may deem necessary, and make use of the General Register Office of Merchant Seamen, and may, if necessary for such purpose, increase the number of persons employed there, and may appoint additional remuneration to any persons now employed there upon whom additional duties are thrown by reason of this Act.”

This must have been heartbreaking for William who had served the Merchant Seaman’s Fund for over 30 years. This winding-up of the Merchant Seamans’ Fund appears to have prompted William’s retirement. 

On 16^th February 1843 at St Pancras Church, at the age of 49, William Watson finally gave up the bachelor life to marry Mary Neilson Hyde of Berkhamsted. The witnesses to their marriage were William’s sister, Emma Mary Watson and his father-in-law, John Hyde. Their marriage was reported upon by several local newspapers including the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette which stated:

MARRIED – February 16^th, at St Pancras church, William Watson, esq, of Gordon Street, Gordon Square, London, to Mary Neilson, daughter of Joh Hyde, Esq., receiver of taxes, Great Berkhamstead.

Many professional people, such as William Watson, made Berkhamsted their home, whilst working in London, because of the railway. The first passenger train had passed through Berkhamsted on 16th October 1837, 59 minutes after leaving London, and this meant that travel to and from the capital was now relatively easy. William and Mary Watson first appear in Berkhamsted on 7^th June 1845 when their son Augustus William was baptised at St Peter’s Church. He was followed by William and Mary’s only daughter, Elizabeth Geill Watson, who was baptised on 22^nd July 1847. On 21^st March 1849 Mary gave birth to twin sons, Charles Edward and Henry Hilder. Charles was baptised privately on 14^th May 1849. The register states that he was the 3^rd son of William and Mary Watson, gentleman. One can only assume that he was the second born twin and may have appeared sicklier than his twin-brother, Henry, who was baptised on 25^th October 1849. On the day that Henry was baptised his twin, Charles, was admitted into the church family. In a cruel twist of fate it was the elder twin, Henry, who lived only 10 months and died on 21^st January 1850.

In the midst of making Berkhamsted his home and the responsibility of his growing family, William’s father, John Watson, died on 25^th May 1845 at his home in Fitzroy Street, St Pancras, aged 75. William proved the will of his father, John, at the probate court in London on 25^th June 1845. William’s father had made him one of three executors, with his mother Ann, and a family friend and wine merchant, Joseph Fanwick.

In 1851 William and Mary Watson were living in some style with Mary’s parents, John and Mary Hyde. They were now occupying the newly built Highfield House, at the top of what is now Highfield Road. This was a substantial villa with a conservatory and detached service buildings to the north. The landscaped grounds extended to Three Close Lane. John Hyde was able to employ five servants and entertain a guest, Stephen Lea Wilson, who later became the Vicar of Prestbury near Macclesfield in Cheshire. On 24^th January 1858, William’s mother, Ann, died at her home in Fitzroy Street and once again William, as the sole executor, was called upon to prove the will.

By 1861 William and Mary had moved to Berkhamsted High Street, and were living with their children, Augustus William, Elizabeth and Charles in a household that included their cook, and a housemaid. By this time William was described as being “Late RN and Sec.y to Corpn. Merchant Seaman’s Fund”.

With William having held a post of such responsibility with contacts in the City of London, as well as having relatives, who were merchants and magistrates, it is no surprise that his sons attended university and had successful careers of their own.

In July 1868 William and Mary’s eldest son, Augustus William, was ordained as a deacon in the Diocese of Winchester, having previously obtained his B.A., from St John’s College, Cambridge.

On 30^th January 1869 William’s death was reported upon in The Herts Advertiser and St Albans Times as follows: Jan. 22, at his residence, High Street, Great Berkhamstead, Mr William Watson, gentleman, aged 74. The deceased, who had been paralysed for many years, died almost suddenly. His will, proved on 22^nd February 1869, named three executors: His widow Mary, his son the Reverend Augustus William Watson and his nephew John Harrison Watson (son of his sister Nancy) of 28 Queensborough Terrace, Bayswater, Middlesex. Amongst his effect were two sets of shares held on the Great Western Railway Company.

William’s eldest son, Augustus William married Emily Jane Wagstaffe on 19^th July 1873 at Egham in Surrey. In 1884 he became the Vicar of Churt and Frensham in Surrey, where he and his wife raised one son and two daughters. He remained there until his death in 1917. William’s only daughter, Elizabeth Geill Watson, remained a spinster living firstly in her parents’ home, before moving to 14 Boxwell Road. She died in Berkhamsted in 1929 and was buried with her parents. William’s youngest surviving son, Charles Edward Watson, became a General Practitioner and Obstetrician, living at Ash Tree House, Wargrave in Berkshire.