John Watson (1729–1784)
Mayor of Oxford 1783/4
John Watson was born in Oxford in 1729. He was the son of the grocer Benjamin Watson and his wife Joanna, who moved from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire to Oxford in about 1725.
John Watson’s siblings
Watson’s parents Benjamin and Joanna had five children in Aylesbury:
- Benjamin Watson (born 6 December 1715, baptised at Aylesbury Church eight days later)
- Martha Watson (born 26 November 1718, baptised Aylesbury Church twelve days later)
- Ann Watson (born 24 December 1719, baptised Aylesbury Church the next day)
- William Watson (born 18 December 1722, baptised Aylesbury Church the same day)
- William Watson (born 18 December 1722, baptised Aylesbury Church the same day).
At some point between 1723 and 1726 Watson’s parents moved to St Peter-in-the-East parish (probably to the High Street shop later run by John) and they had another four children there:
- Mary Watson (baptised on 11 July 1726 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- John Watson himself (baptised on 18 February 1728/9 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- Joanna Watson I (baptised on 3 October 1732 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- Joanna Watson II (baptised on 1 January 1735/6 at St Peter-in-the-East Church).
John’s eldest brother Benjamin Watson (who back in 1727 had been transferred as an apprentice to his own father when he four years into an apprenticeship with a tallow-chandler) This Benjamin preceded John on to the council in 1758 and married Sarah Airey of Clerkenwell in London on 25 July 1751: they had eight children baptised at St Peter-in-the-East Church between 1752 and 1761, and their youngest daughter was baptised at St Cross Church on 31 July 1768. Their daughter Elizabeth was to marry the mayor Joseph Lock;)
On 29 April 1743 when he was 14, John Watson was taken on by his father as an apprentice grocer for seven years. It appears, however, that his father died shortly afterwards, as a Benjamin Watson was buried at St Cross Church in Holywell, Oxford (where the Watsons had a family vault) on 20 October the same year. His brother Benjamin junior probably kept John on as his apprentice.
On 23 June 1762 at Kiddington, John Watson (33) married Martha Douglass and they settled at the east end of the High Street, where they had six children:
- John Watson I (born in Oxford and baptised on 21 December 1763 at St Peter-in-the-East Church);
died in infancy - Robert Watson (born in Oxford and baptised on 19 February 1766 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- William Watson (born in Oxford and baptised on 2 September 1770 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- Martha Watson (born in Oxford and baptised on 22 March 1775 at St Peter-in-the-East Church)
- John Watson II (born in Oxford and baptised on 9 July 1778 at St Peter-in-the-East Church;
died in 1793 aged 14).
Watson had been appointed a Cloth Searcher in 1760, but was not elected on to the Common Council until 1765. In 1769 he was chosen as Mayor’s Chamberlain by William Wickham.
In March 1771 Watson’s unmarried sister Martha died, followed by his brother Benjamin in August. They were both buried at St Cross Church, and their memorial (left) on the wall of the church reads:
Sacred to the Memory of
BENJAMIN WATSON, Son of
BENJAMIN & JOANNA WATSON
Who died Augt 27 1771,
Aged 55 Years.
He was a most Dutyfull Son,
affectionate Husband, & a loving Father.
Also of MARTHA WATSON
Daughter of
BENJAMIN & JOANNA WATSON,
Who Died March 19th1771
Aged 53.
When his brother Benjamin died in 1771, John Watson, who was presumably by this time his partner, took over the family business, as Benjamin’s eldest surviving son was under 21.
The 1772 Survey of Oxford shows that Watson’s shop (which had a frontage of 9 yards 0 ft 9 in) was at 69 & 70 High Street (near the East Gate of the city, which was about to be taken down).
On 22 February 1773 there was a report in Jackson’s Oxford Journal of a fire in the workshop of John Watson, grocer and tallow chandler of Eastgate. The flames were stopped before reaching the next warehouse, where spirits were stored.
In 1774 John Watson was elected Senior Bailiff for the forthcoming council year.
In 1775 there was a notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal that debtors to the late Benjamin Watson & Co, distiller, or to his widow Sarah Watson should pay John Watson, distiller.
When on 21 February 1780 John Watson took on his own eldest surviving son Robert (then aged 14) as an apprentice grocer he was described as a “distiller, grocer, tallowchandler, & soapboiler”, and in Bailey’s Directory for 1783 he is described as a “Distiller, Hop-Merchant, Grocer, Tallow-chandler, Soap-boiler, and Agent to the new Fire Office, Lombard street”. In Jackson’s Oxford Journal that year Watson was advertising his wax candles at 3/- a pound.
On 17 March 1783 John Watson was elected Mayor’s Assistant and just six months later on 15 September he was elected Mayor (for 1783/4). He began his term of office on 30 September, selecting John Sissill as Mayor’s Chamberlain, but did not complete it, as he died on 29 March 1784 at the age of 54. Jackson's Oxford Journal reported on 10 April 1784:
On Tuesday last was interred, in their Family Vault in Holiwell Church, Mr. John Watson, late Mayor of this City; who might with strict Justice be deemd an honest Man, and a real Friend to the Poor.—He was an indulgent Husband, a fond Parent, a cheerful, and a good Companion; who lived esteemed and died lamented.
His memorial (left) on the wall of St Cross (Holywell) Church reads:
IN MEMORY
OF
JOHN WATSON ESQ.
MAYOR OF THIS CITY
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
MARCH THE XXIX MDCCLXXXIV.
AGED LIV YEARS.
AN AFFECTIONATE HUSBAND,
AN INDULGENT FATHER,
AND SINCERE FRIEND.
ALSO OF JOHN HIS SON
WHO DIED JANY. VIII,
MDCCLXXXXIII
AGED XIV YEARS.
AND LIKEWISE
OF HIS SECOND SON JOHN,
WHO DIED IN HIS INFANCY.
Martha Watson, widow of John Watson, and their three surviving children
Soon after her husband's death in 1784 Martha Watson published a notice in Jackson’s Oxford Journal that she intended to carry on the business the late John Watson (distiller and grocer) “notwithstanding malicious reports to the contrary”. On 31 December 1785 she took on her second surviving son, William Watson, as an apprentice grocer for seven years.
On 27 October 1787 she inserted a notice stating that she had taken to the distillery business of Messrs Townsend & Co.
On 23 August 1788 she offered a reward for information leading to the conviction of someone who had stabbed her bay mare to death with something like a fork in Greyhound Meadow.
Her youngest son John Watson died at the age of 14 on 8 January 1793.
On 15 August 1795 Martha Watson announced that she was declining business in favour of her eldest son Robert.
On 19 April 1810 the minutes of the City Council recorded:
Martha the Widow of Mr John Watson who was one of the Eight Assistants of this City and was elected to the office of Mayor in the year 1783 and died while in that office, being far advanced in years and now greatly distressed in her circumstances It is ordered by this House that the sum of Twenty Pounds shall be paid out of the City fund for her relief, that is five Pounds immediately, and the remaining £15 by three equal quarterly payments.
The children of John & Martha Watson
- Robert Watson (born 1766) was described as a grocer of St Peter-in-the-East parish when on 6 September 1792 at Waterperry Church her eldest son Robert Watson, , married Ann Rippington, who was described in Jackson's Oxford Journal as “a very agreeable young Lady, with a genteel Fortune”.
- William Watson (born 1770) is hard to trace after he was apprenticed to his mother in 1785.
- Martha Watson (born 1775) married Philip Addington, the son of the Revd Dr Stephen Addington of the Minories in the Aldgate area of the City of London, on 20 February 1794.
See also:
- Malcolm Graham, Oxford City Apprentices 1697–1800, entries numbered 1344, 1815, 2625, and 2754
- PCC Will PROB 11/1118/389 (Will of John Watson, Grocer and Distiller of Oxford, proved 22 June 1784)
