Robert Douglas Watt, (born 1945) is a former Canadian museum curator and

officer of arms An officer of arms is a person appointed by a sovereign or Sovereign state, state with authority to perform one or more of the following functions: * to control and initiate coat of arms, armorial matters; * to arrange and participate in ceremo ...

who served as the first

Chief Herald of Canada Chief Herald of Canada is the title held by the head of the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The Chief Herald of Canada directs the operations of the Canadian Heraldic Authority and makes the grants of arms. There are exceptions to this, such as certa ...

. He was appointed at the foundation of the

Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for th ...

in 1988, and he was succeeded by

Claire Boudreau Claire Boudreau, (1965 - November 17, 2020) was a Canadian historian, genealogist, and officer of arms. She served as a herald in the Canadian Heraldic Authority from March 17, 1997 in the office of Saguenay Herald and later as Saint-Laurent Her ...

in 2007.

Life and career

Watt was born in

Picton, Ontario Picton is an unincorporated community located in Prince Edward County in southeastern Ontario, roughly east of Toronto. It is the county's largest community and former seat located at the southwestern end of Picton Bay, a branch of the Bay of ...

, in 1945. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in 1967 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1968 from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

. From 1969 to 1970, he was an

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to Document, records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist c ...

for the Public Archives of Canada. From 1971 to 1973, he was the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

City Archivist. In 1973, he was appointed as Curator of History at the Vancouver Centennial Museum (now the

Vancouver Museum The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) (formerly the Vancouver Museum and prior to that the Centennial Museum) is a civic history museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada and the oldest museum ...

). He became Chief Curator in 1977 and was Director from 1980 to 1988. He was appointed as the first

in 1988, and he served in that position until 2007. He was appointed as a

Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, o ...

(LVO) in the

2008 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and a ...

and received his insignia from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace on May 16, 2008. Watt is also an Officer of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John and has been awarded the

125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal The 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (french: Médaille commémorative du 125e anniversaire de la Confédération du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the 125th anniversary of ...

, the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

and the

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

. He was made an Honorary Senior Fellow of

Renison University College Renison University College is an affiliated university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of Waterloo's main campus. The university college offers a ...

in 1990. He is currently the Honorary

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

for

12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance 12 (Vancouver) Field Ambulance is a Canadian Forces Primary Reserve medical unit in Vancouver, British Columbia. History This unit has a long and distinguished history that lives up to the medical corps tradition of being faithful in adversity. It ...

. Watt served as a

citizenship judge The Citizenship Commission is an administrative tribunal within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The overall mandate of the Commission is to assess referred applications to ensure they meet the residence or physical-presence ...

in Vancouver from September 2009 to September 2015. He was president of the

Académie Internationale d'Héraldique L'Académie Internationale d'Héraldique (known in English as the International Academy Of Heraldry) was founded in Paris in 1949 to bring together experts in heraldry representing the various areas of the world. Admission is by election, and the ...

between 2015 and 2022. In 2019, he wrote ''People Among the People: The Public Art of Susan Point'', a non-fiction book describes the collected work of

Susan Point Susan Point (born 1952) is a Musqueam Coast Salish artist from Canada, who works in the Coast Salish tradition. Her sculpture, prints and public art works include pieces installed at the Vancouver International Airport, the National Museum of t ...

through interviews and archival research. He is married to Alison Watt (''née'' Logan), the former ''Director, University Secretariat'' of

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

.Director, University Secretariat
, Simon Fraser University

Coat of arms

Notes

References

External links

Coat of arms of Robert Douglas Watt
1945 births Living people 20th-century Canadian civil servants 21st-century Canadian civil servants Canadian Heraldic Authority Canadian officers of arms Carleton University alumni Chief Heralds of Canada Fellows of the Royal Heraldry Society of Canada Lieutenants of the Royal Victorian Order People from Prince Edward County, Ontario Flag designers Canadian citizenship judges {{Canada-heraldry-stub

Life and career

Coat of arms

See also

Notes

References

External links