Robert Walker Watson, surgeon, was the son of John Watson and his wife Nancy, born Walker. He studied at University College, London, qualifying as a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries of London (LSA) in 1882 and as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS) in 1883. Soon after qualifying he came to the Cape Colony, where he was licensed to practice in February 1885. He settled in Ladismith, where he served as district surgeon for his entire career. In that capacity he reported annually on local public health matters. In 1905 he became a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science when it held its annual meeting in South Africa. He was married to Jane Sarah Edwards, but they were divorced in 1903. During 1907-1910 he obtained an irrigation loan to develop the farm Bosluiskloof, just north of the Swartberg, and in 1911 a similar loan for the farm Buffelsrivierpoort.

In 1908, and also earlier, Watson presented fossils from the Bokkeveld Group to the South African Museum in Cape Town.

List of sources:

Ancestry. Robert Watson. Retrieved on 19 April 2021 from https://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/robert-watson-24-hzjqyf

Cape of Good Hope. Report of the trustees of the South African Museum, 1908.

Cape of Good Hope. Reports on the public health..., 1899.

British Association for the Advancement of Science. Report of the seventy-fifth meeting... South Africa, 1905, list of members.

FamilySearch: Robert Walker Watson. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQF-W391-7?view=index&personArk=/ark:/61903/1:1:QGTN-9NJ7&action=view&cc=2517051&lang=en&groupId=M9DB-6RL

Medical and pharmacy register for the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, 1893, 1907.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Watson, Robert Walker / Watson, R.W.

South African medical directory for 1897. Cape Town: Cape Times, 1897.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2026-02-27 10:26:45