Name John Watt | Resigned April 1890 | |
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Role Former Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council Died September 28, 1897, Bournemouth, United Kingdom Previous offices Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1874–1890) | ||
John Brown Watt, MLC (16 May 1826 – 28 September 1897) was a Scottish-born Australian politician and businessman. Watt was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1861 and 1866, before leaving to work sit on the board of the Imperial Federation League in England. He was reappointed in 1874 and served thereafter until 1890.
Biography
Watt was born in Edinburgh, Mid-Lothian, Scotland, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton Watt and his wife Margaret, née Gilchrist. Watt was educated at the University of Edinburgh, matriculating in 1840; he emigrated for health reasons, arriving in Sydney on the Benares on 6 December 1842.
Watt was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales in September 1861, but resigned on leaving for England in March 1866. He was reappointed in October 1874. In 1877 he presented the sum of £1000 to the University of Sydney to found an exhibition for students from primary schools. He presided over the royal commission on military defences in 1881. Later, he was a commissioner for New South Wales at the international exhibitions in Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1878), Sydney (1879), Amsterdam (1883) and at Calcutta (1883-84). In 1884, Watt was invited to the United Kingdom to sit on the executive committee of the Imperial Federation League.
Outside of politics, he was very much invested in public health. Among hother public health ventures, he was a founder of the Hospital for Sick Children, Glebe (now the Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children; director of the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary between 1869 and 1873; and director of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
In April 1890 his seat in the Legislative Council became vacant owing to prolonged absence in England.
Watt died in Bournemouth, Dorset, England on 28 September 1897. He was survived by three of his five sons and five daughters, the youngest son was Oswald Watt, OBE, a celebrated aviator. Another son, Ernest Watt, became the father-in-law of Sir Laurence Whistler Street, AC, KCMG, QC, when he married Ernest's daughter Susan Gai Watt AM.