Stephen John Watson


Sir Stephen John Watson FRSE FRIC FRAgS CBE was a 20th-century British agriculturalist. He had an expert knowledge of the nutritional values of hay, straw and silage under different conditions.
In 1947 he founded the Edinburgh Centre of Rural Economy at Bush House, near Penicuik.

Life

He was born on 24 March 1898 in Chanchamayo in Peru the son of William Watson, an accountant. He was educated at Lima in Peru.
In 1910 the family returned to Newcastle-upon-Tyne where he completed his education at Tynemouth School. He then studied science at the University of Newcastle.
His studies were interrupted by the First World War during which he served in the Scottish Horse Regiment then in the King Edward's Horse Regiment. Returning to University after the war he graduated with a BSc in 1920.
In 1936 he became head of Biochemistry and Nutrition at ICI Research Laboratories at Jealott's Hill. In 1944 he was appointed Professor of Agriculture at the University of Edinburgh, succeeding Prof Ernest Shearer. This role also included being Principal of the East of Scotland College of Agriculture.
In 1945 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were James Pickering Kendall, Alexander McCall Smith, Edward Wyllie Fenton and Alfred Cameron.
He died at Havant in Hampshire on 25 June 1976.

Publications