John Watson, Esq.
(1816-1890)
31 March 1862

Volume 6, page 147, sitting number 7457.

[Identified in the Silvy daybooks as ‘John Watson,’ another portrait of the same sitter on eBay in May 2021 identified him as ‘John Watson [of] Stamford Hill.’]

Born in or about 1816 at Blackburn, John Watson was the son of James Watson, an inn keeper.

He married firstly on 10 August 1843 Janet Anne Parkinson, daughter of draper Hankinson Parkinson. At the time of his marriage John gave his profession as ‘Land Surveyor.’

On 2 March 1848 John Watson  was elected an Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers.

At the time of the 1851 census John was a widower living or staying at ‘Stonewell,’ a house in Lancaster, with his widowed mother Nancy Watson, aged 57. The household included two servants.

On 11 December 1851 at Darlington he married secondly Elizabeth Overend, ‘daughter of John Overend, Esq., of Coatham Mundeville, near Darlington, and late of Bentham, Lancashire’ (York Herald, 13 December 1851).

In 1861 the couple were living at Albion Lodge in Stamford Hill with their children Lucy Elizabeth (8), John Overend (7), Emeline (5), Ada (3), Florence (2) and Nancy (6 months).

In 1864 John Watson’s offices were located at 47 Parliament Street, London. Among other projects he was involved in the construction of the Bahia and San Francisco Railway in Brazil.

In 1881 the family was at 'More Coombe Lodge' [Morecambe Lodge] in Tottenham. John (65) still gave his profession as ‘civil engineer.’ Elizabeth (51) had four servants to help run her household. Also present on the night of the census were four daughters: Emiline (25), Ada May (23), Kate Nell (20) and Rose Olive (14).

John Watson died, aged 74, on 8 August 1890 at Colintraive Park Road, Beckenham, Kent. He left an estate valued at £3862.

He was buried in Tottenham Cemetery. The base of his monument is still extant but the monument itself has disappeared.