James Watson (MP)

For other people named James Watson, see James Watson (disambiguation).

James Watson (1817 – 5 July 1895)^[1] was an English merchant, dairy herdsman and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1892.

Watson was born at Birmingham the son of James Watson,of Edgbaston and his wife Mary Spreadborough. Watson was a cheesemonger in Birmingham.^[2] In 1875 he purchased Berwick House near Shrewsbury and moved in four years later after extensive reconstruction. There he established one of the first herds of Jersey cows in England.^[3] He became a J.P. for the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire.^[4]

At the 1885 general election Watson was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shrewsbury and held the seat until he stood down at the 1892 election.^[5]

Watson died at the age of 78.

Watson married Jane Willan in 1856 and they had a daughter Florence.

References

^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 3)
^ Lawrence Stone, A. L. Beier, David Cannadine, James M. Rosenheim The First modern society 1989
^ Some old Jersey Herds Worldwide
^ Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 188. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by James Watson

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Charles Cecil Cotes Henry Robertson	Member of Parliament for Shrewsbury 1885 – 1892	Succeeded by Henry David Greene

Persondata
Name	Watson, James
Alternative names
Short description	British politician
Date of birth	1817
Place of birth
Date of death	5 July 1895
Place of death