Joshua Watson

Born in Tower Hill Joshua was the second son of John Watson, a wine merchant, and Dorothy Robson, a cousin to artist George Fennel Robson, Watson attended three different schools before joining his father’s counting house at twenty-one as a partner. Watson and his wife Mary had two daughters, his wife was the daughter of a banker in the City of London. Although he spent a large portion of his life in the commercial world, Watson was dedicated to serving the Church of England through advocacy and charity. He was closely associated with the Hackney Phalanx and worked extensively throughout his life to extend charity to several religious and philanthropic causes. He was the first treasurer for the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church and is considered largely responsible for raising £16000 in subscriptions and the appointment of the archbishop of Canterbury as president. Watson and Henry Handley Norris bought the British Critic in 1811 using it to publish the principles of the church. From 1815 Watson retired and dedicated himself to philanthropy becoming tresurer of the Clergy Orphan Society, a govenor of the London Fever Hospital and on account of his good work recieved presents from the kings of Prussia and Saxony as well as a diploma of honour from the University of Hamburg. He aided in making the SPG more fiscally stable increasing its annual income from £8100 in 1814 to £82,000 by 1855. He was invested and encouraged missionary work especially the building of colonial churches where several of his close friends were appointed as bishops. The death of his wife in 1831, brother in 1839 and daughter in 1840 caused him deep distress, driving him to sell his Westminster house in 1840 and move in with his sister-in-law in Clapton.