John Christian Watson
John Christian Watson was born in 1867 in
Chile while his parents were travelling. When
John was old enough to go to school, he went
to a government school in Oamaru, New
Zealand.Watson started work on the railways
at the age of ten. Then at thirteen he started
to work at a newspaper.
In 1886, Watson moved to Sydney. He was
elected to the New South Wales Parliament
in 1894 and became President of the
Commonwealth Labor Party in 1901. He
worked closely with the Protectionist leader,
Alfred Deakin.
When he was aged 37, he became Australia's
third and youngest Prime Minister, on 27
April 1904. Watson's Political Parties were
Commonwealth and Labor.He resigned on
the 17 August 1904, just three months and
twenty days after becoming Prime Minister.
He remained in Parliament until 1910. In
1916 he was expelled from the Labor Party
for supporting conscription into the army.
Watson helped established Ampol, an
Australian oil company, and the N.R.M.A.,a
motorists association. He never became an
Australian citizen, which is very strange.
Watson died in Sydney, Australia on the 18
November 1941 at the age of 74.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Prime Ministers of Australia, Bruce, Jill.B
Researched by Tom B 6H
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This page was last modified on 3rd September, 1998
