John Watt (politician)


John Brown Watt was a Scottish-born Australian businessman, banker, and politician. Watt was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1861 and 1866, before leaving to become a board member of the Imperial Federation League in the United Kingdom. He was re-elected to the Legislative Council in 1874 and served thereafter until 1890.
Aside from politics, he was a director of the Union Bank of Australia and the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, and chairman of the Mutual Life Association of Australasia. He was a director of the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and founder of the Hospital for Sick Children, Glebe.

Early life

Watt was born in Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of British naval officer Alexander Hamilton Watt and his wife Margaret, née Gilchrist. His father was related to James Watt, inventor of the steam-engine and namesake of the Watt energy metric. Watt was educated at the University of Edinburgh, matriculating in 1840; he emigrated to Sydney via the Benares on 6 December 1842.

Political career

Watt was appointed a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council in September 1861, but resigned on leaving for England in March 1866. He was reappointed in October 1874. In 1877 he presented the sum of £1000 to the University of Sydney to found an exhibition for students from primary schools. He presided over the Royal Commission on Military Defences of 1881.
Later, he was a Commissioner for New South Wales at the International Exhibitions of Philadelphia, Paris, Sydney, Amsterdam and at Calcutta. In 1884, Watt was invited to the United Kingdom to serve on the Executive Committee of the Imperial Federation League. In April 1890 his seat in the Legislative Council became vacant due to prolonged absence in England.

Further details

Watt died in Bournemouth, Dorset on 28 September 1897. He was survived by three of his five sons and five daughters, the youngest son was Oswald Watt, a celebrated aviator. Another son, Ernest Watt, became the father-in-law of Sir Laurence Whistler Street when he married Ernest's daughter Susan Gai Watt, herself the first female chair of the Eastern Sydney Health Service.