Ada Jane Watson (née Low; 4 February 185518 July 1921) was the wife of

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia, in office from 27 April to 18 August 1904. He served as the inaugural federal lead ...

, the third

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

Early life

Ada Jane Low was born in Bexley,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and arrived in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

as a two-year-old in 1857. She was accompanied by her parents, William and Emily Jane Low, and siblings, Edward and Alice, as an "assisted immigrant" on the ship ''Light of the Age''. Two further siblings, Adelaide and Agnes, were born in New South Wales in the years that followed the family's arrival and settling in Bathurst.

Personal life

Low and Watson were wed on 27 November 1889 at the Unitarian Church, Liverpool Street, Sydney, shortly before he was elected to the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council. She was not involved in her husband's political career, except to support his decision to resign as Labor leader in 1907. She may also have been influential in her husband's later estrangement from the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

. Watson died at her home in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

on 18 July 1921, from a bout of influenza that developed into pneumonia. She was buried at Waverley Cemetery. Owing partly to her husband's brief term as Prime Minister, Ada Watson is possibly the least well-known of prime ministerial spouses in Australia. No photograph of her has ever been found.

References

External links

Australia's Prime Ministers: Ada Watson
National Archives of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Ada Spouses of prime ministers of Australia English emigrants to Australia 1855 births 1921 deaths People from Bexley Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales Burials at Waverley Cemetery