Guide to the Papers of Frederick Watson, 1814-1979

Summary

Collection number:

MS 7887, MS Acc18.053

Creator:

Watson, Frederick

Extent:

14.67 metres and (79 boxes + 2 folio boxes+ 2 pieces + 1 medium phase box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Frederick Watson, National Library of Australia, [class/series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The bulk of MS 7887 collection comprises Watson's own papers documenting most phases of his life, from early days as student medical practitioner to his long career as a historian, publicist editor of Historical records of Australia. Also papers of his father, James Watson, of other forbears. Papers include family, business, political official correspondence, manuscripts, research material, essays, cutting books, certificates, legal documents, printed items, invitations photographs, as well as books from Watson's library an unusual array of objects. Major correspondents include: Sir Mungo MacCallum, B. R. Wise, Charles MacDonald, Sibella Macarthur Onslow, Elliot Johnson, J. H. Keating, Sir Earle Page, G. A. Wood, W. A. Holman, Sir Daniel Levy, Frank Clune, Lallah Keating, A. B. Paterson, H. E. Hunt (75 boxes + 2 folio boxes + 2 pieces + 1 medium phase box).

MS Acc18.053 includes diverse academic papers on early settlement, the story of Canberra, banking, establishing a National Archives, and petitioning the House of Representatives. A large part of the collection comprises bound albums documenting the short life of Frederick Watson's only son James (4 boxes).

Biographical Note:

Frederick Watson (James Frederick Watson) was born on 27 June 1878 in Sydney, the eldest son of James and Margaret Watson. He was educated at Sydney Grammar School and Sydney University. He was a resident surgeon and an assistant medical superintendent in Queensland in 1903-05. He married Muriel Marks in 1906. In the same year he joined the surgeon Neville Howse at Orange, New South Wales. In 1909 he took his family to Europe to study radiology. After returning to Sydney he maintained medical rooms in Macquarie street for about two years.

In October 1910 he was appointed a trustee of Public Library of New South Wales. In 1912 he was appointed by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library Committee as the first editor of the Historical Records of Australia. Under his editorship 33 volumes were published. He resigned in 1925 and no further volumes were ever issued.

In 1927 Watson moved to the Canberra district, although he continued to spend a good deal of time in Sydney. He was elected a member of the Federal Capital Commission in 1929 but resigned six weeks later.

Watson wrote numerous work on historical, economic and constitutional subjects, including The history of Sydney Hospital from 1811 to 1911, The beginning of government in Australia, A brief history of Canberra, Constitutional reform as a basis for the permanent economic reconstruction of Australia, and 'Financial history of Australia'.

Frederick Watson died in Sydney on 22 January 1945 and was survived by his wife and three daughters.

Sources: Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, p.399.; A.M. Mitchell. Dr Frederick Watson and Historical Records of Australia. Australian Historical Studies, vol. 20, no.79 (Oct. 1982), pp.17197.

James Watson, Frederick Watson's father, was born on 17 December 1836 in Portaown, County Armagh, Ireland, the second son of James (d. 1847) and Sarah Watson. He followed his brothers George and William John ( d.1886) to Victoria, arriving in Melbourne in 1856. In 1861 they moved to Lambing Flat (Young, N.S.W.) and in 1862 opened a store which was provisioned by John Frazer. In 1869 James Watson bought a quater share in John Frazer Co. and moved to Sydney. He married Margaret Ewan, sister of James Ewan and sister-in-law of Frazer, in 1871.

On 28 December 1869 Watson was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Lachlan, a position which he held until 1880, when he won the seat of Young. He became a close friend and creditor of Sir Henry Parkes. He served in the Parkes Ministry as the Colonial Treasurer from 21 December 1878 until 4 January 1883 when he was defeated for the seats of Young and Illawarra. In April 1884 he won a byelection for Gundagai, which he held until October 1885. He became a director of the Australian Joint Stock Bank in 1897.

James Watson died on 30 October 1907.

Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 6, pp. 362 - 63.

James Ewan, the maternal grandfather of Frederick Watson, was born in Edinburgh on 23 January 1811. A schoolteacher, he was a Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland and tutor to Lord Howick (later 3rd Earl Grey) on his travels in Europe. In 1849 he and his family emigrated to Sydney on the Zemindar and at first he conducted a school in York street. He edited Australian Era (1850 -51) and Australian Witness (c.1853) and was the author of Geography of the Australian colonies, Sydney, 1851 (2nd ed. 1854).

In about 1854 Ewan moved to Maitland where he was a reporter on the Maitland Mercury, correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald and one of the founders of the Northern Times. He died at West Maitland on 10 July 1860.

Ewan's daughter, Margaret Salmon Ewan (d.1887), married James Watson in 1871. His son, James Ewan (1843-1903), was a partner of James Watson and John Frazer in Frazer Co. and he was a chairman and a chairman and director of several companies, including the Australasian Steam Navigation Company.

Source: James Ewan Papers (Series 12/3). Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 4, pp. 145-46.

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there are multiple Box 1's). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Provenance:

The original consignment of Papers of Frederick Watson were purchased from his daughter Pauline Watson in 1989. Further papers were donated by his granddaughter, Patricia Ritter, in 2018.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2898873).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Frederick Watson, National Library of Australia, [class/series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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