Sir James Anderson Scott Watson

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(16 November 1889–1966) was a 20th-century Scottish agriculturalist.

Education and early life

Watson was born on 16 November 1889 in Forfar, the son of William Watson a farmer at Downieken near

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. He studied science at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

graduating with a BSc in 1908. He then went to the United States to study agriculture at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, gaining an MSc in 1910.

Career and research

He began lecturing in agriculture at the University of Edinburgh in 1911. In the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Lothian and Border Horse Yeomanry for a year and was then commissioned at the rank of 2nd Lieutenant into the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of t ...

where he won the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

for bravery. In 1922, he became Britain's first ever Professor of Agriculture (still at University of Edinburgh). In 1925 he transferred to be the Sibthorpian Professor of Rural Economy at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

replacing William Somerville. He retired in 1944 and was succeeded at Oxford by . On 15 July 1949, he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

for services to agriculture.

Publications

*'' The History of the Agricultural Society of England 1839-1939'' (1946) *''Great Farmers'' (1951) *''Agriculture in the British Economy'' (1956) *''Agriculture: The Science and Practice of British Farming'' *''Evolution'' *''Heredity'' *''The Farming Year''

Awards and honours

Watson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). His proposers were Robert Wallace,

James Cossar Ewart James Cossar Ewart FRS FRSE (26 November 1851 – 31 December 1933) was a Scottish zoologist. He performed breeding experiments with horses and zebras which disproved earlier theories of heredity. Life Ewart was born in Penicuik, Midlo ...

, Sir Thomas Hudson Beare, and

Robert Stewart MacDougall Robert Stewart MacDougall FRSE LLD (5 June 1862 – 28 March 1947) was a Scottish entomologist, agriculturalist and zoologist. In authorship he appears as R. S. MacDougall. Life MacDougall was born in Edinburgh on 5 June 1862. He was educated a ...

References

1889 births 1949 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Oxford Scottish agriculturalists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Knights Bachelor Commanders of the Order of the British Empire {{UK-bio-stub