Vice Admiral Charles Watson (1714 – 16 August 1757) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, who served briefly as colonial governor of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, and died in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Origins

He was the son of John Watson by his wife the sister of Sir

Charles Wager Admiral Sir Charles Wager (24 February 1666 – 24 May 1743) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1733 to 1742. Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, ...

(1666–1743), First Lord of the Admiralty. The armorials used by his son the 1st baronet (''Argent, on a chevron engrailled azure between three martlets sable as many crescents or'') are a differenced version of the arms of the Watson family,

Marquess of Rockingham Marquess of Rockingham, in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1746 for Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Earl of Malton. The Watson family descended from Lewis Watson, Member of Parliament f ...

, and thus the family may have been a cadet branch of the latter.

Naval career

Watson entered the navy as a volunteer per order on in 1728. He was promoted

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in 1734 and promoted captain and given command of in 1738. He transferred to HMS ''Plymouth'' in May 1741 and to HMS ''Dragon'' in November 1742 which he commanded in the Battle of Toulon. In 1746 he transferred to HMS ''Princess Louisa'' which he commanded at the

First Battle of Cape Finisterre The First Battle of Cape Finisterre (14 May 1747in the Julian calendar then in use in Britain this was 3 May 1747) was waged during the War of the Austrian Succession. It refers to the attack by 14 British ships of the line under Admiral Georg ...

in May 1747 and in the

Second Battle of Cape Finisterre The second battle of Cape Finisterre was a naval encounter fought during the War of the Austrian Succession on 25 October 1747 (N.S.). A British fleet of fourteen ships of the line commanded by Rear-Admiral Edward Hawke intercepted a Frenc ...

in October 1747. In January 1748 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Newfoundland and North American station with his flag in HMS ''Lion''. He became governor of Newfoundland and commander-in-chief of

Cape Breton Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. The position of governor of the colony had temporarily lapsed after the departure of Richard Edwards and therefore his successor, James Douglas, was not a governor of the island but commodore. No commodore nor governor was sent in 1747, but Charles Watson became the governor on arrival in 1748. As governor of Newfoundland he set about deporting

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and Scots

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

from the colony. In 1754 he became

Commander-in-Chief, East Indies The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...

. The English settlement at

Fort William, India Fort William is a fort in Hastings, Calcutta (Kolkata). It was built during the early years of the Bengal Presidency of British India. It sits on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River, the major distributary of the River Ganges. One of Kolkat ...

sought assistance from the Presidency of Fort St. George at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, which sent Colonel

Robert Clive Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, (29 September 1725 – 22 November 1774), also known as Clive of India, was the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency. Clive has been widely credited for laying the foundation of the British ...

and Admiral Charles Watson. They re-captured

on 2 January 1757, but the Nawab marched again on Calcutta on 5 February 1757, and was surprised by a dawn attack by the English. This resulted in the

Treaty of Alinagar The Treaty of Alinagar was signed on 9 February 1757 between Robert Clive of the British East India Company and the Nawab of Bengal, Mirza Muhammad Siraj Ud Daula. Alinagar was the short-lived name given to Calcutta given by the Nawab after it ...

on 7 February 1757. However the Nawab was subsequently bolstered by French support, and the

Battle of Chandannagar The Battle of Chandannagar was a successful attack on the French-held settlement of Chandernagore by a British force under the command of Robert Clive and Charles Watson on 23 March 1757 during the Seven Years' War. Chandernagore remained u ...

in March, and then the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. The victory was made possible by the defection of Mir Jafar, ...

in June 1757, followed. Watson was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the White in 1757. Watson's quick rise through the ranks is thought to be attributed from his uncle, Sir Charles Wager, who was

first lord of the admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

. There is a memorial to Watson in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, London.

Marriage and children

He married Rebecca Buller, daughter of John Francis Buller (1695–1751) of Morval in Cornwall, in 1741. She was co-heiress of the manor of

Combe Martin Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park. Due to the narrowness of the ...

, inherited jointly with her brother Francis Buller of

Antony House Antony House is the name of an early 18th-century house, which today is in the ownership of the National Trust. It is located between the town of Torpoint and the village of Antony in the county of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a Gra ...

in Cornwall from her father.Combe Martin Archives, North Devon Record Office, ref: Combe Martin 787M
Their son and heir was: * Sir Charles Watson, 1st Baronet, of Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, created a baronet in 1760.

References

External links

Biography at Government House ''The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador''Memorial described at ''UK National Maritime Museum - Maritime Memorials''Admiral Watson's Monument in Calcutta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Charles 1714 births 1757 deaths Governors of Newfoundland Colony Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War

Origins

Naval career

Marriage and children

See also

References

External links