Born in Ontario in January 1856, son of William and Mary Watson, through the 1880s and early 1890s he worked as a plasterer and contractor at Toronto. He came to Winnipeg in the mid-1890s and worked as a building contractor.
He was married twice, first to Margaret Parkes (?-?) with whom he had three sons: Charles Robert Watson (1883-?), Samuel Henry “Harry” Watson (1885-?), and Arthur R. Watson (1886-?). On 29 August 1888, he married widow Christina Russell Hough McCloskey (1862-?) and they had three children: Sydney St. C. Watson (1891-?), Clara Gertrude Watson (1895-?, wife of William Jennings Batsford), and Lilian Jane Watson (1897-?). The family lived at 12 Balmoral Place (c1906-c1911). It is believed they may have relocated to Newmarket, Ontario in 1912.
Some of his construction work in Manitoba included:
Building
Location
Year
Status
238 Princess Street, Winnipeg
1902
464 Stradbrook Avenue, Winnipeg
1905
Northern Crown Bank Building
654 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg
1908
Demolished (?)
42 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg
1909
470-476 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg
1910
Braemar Court (annex)
470-476 Balmoral Street, Winnipeg
1910
336-338 Colony Street, Winnipeg
1911
Demolished (?)
Ontario birth registrations [Robert Charles Watson, Samuel Henry Watson, Sidney Watson], Ancestry.
Ontario marriage registration [Robert Watson, Christina Russle McClockey], Ancestry.
Birth registrations [Clara Gertrude Watson, Lillie Watson], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
1901 and 1911 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
“Society,” Winnipeg Tribune, 26 September 1912, page 9.
Marriage registration [Clara Gertrude Watson, William Jening Batsford], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Attestation papers [William Jennings Batsford], Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 26 November 2023
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