1654 - 1723
ACCOUNTANT AND BUSINESSMAN
George Watson was born in the parish of Edinburgh on the 23rd November 1654. He was the son of John Watson, an Edinburgh merchant, and Marion Ewing, who married on the 26th September 1644.
His father died young leaving the family without an income and when his mother re-married, George and his younger brother James went to live with their aunt, Elizabeth Davidson, who was his father's sister. Elizabeth Davidson lived in the parish of Currie and it is likely that George attended the parish school in Currie until 1669.
There were parish schools offering free education for the poor but education beyond primary age was only for the children from rich families.
One remedy for this was found in the hospital schools, which provided board, lodging and clothing for schooling. It was in these circumstances that George Watson, who was himself an orphan at an early age, dreamed of founding a hospital school in his own name.
On the 2nd of April 1669 Gearoge Watson started his working life as an apprentice with James Cleland. In 1672 his aunt sent him to Rotterdam, so that he could see how business was done in Holland, and for the special purpose of learning book-keeping. George Watson learned the Dutch language, of great value in the business world of the 17th century when Holland was 'Mistress of the Seas'.
George Watson returned to Edinburgh in 1676 and, as far as we know, never left his beloved city again. Soon after his return, George Watson started working for James Dick, as his cashier and accountant.
George Watson was diligent and became the first professional accountant in Scotland. In 1695 when an Act of Parliament founded the Bank of Scotland, George Watson was appointed the Chief Accountant with a salary of £60 a year.
George Watson never married. The historian to the Bank of Scotland referred to him as "a debonair and well groomed batchelor".
Although it is known that he owned property in the city, George Watson preferred living with a family rather than set up his own household, for twenty years at the Dicks at Prestfield and later with his half-brother John Symer's family in the parish of Greyfriars, after his mother's death in 1697. He spent little so his money had the better chance of increasing.
He was also known to be a patient and hard-working man who held many important and well respected positions. His connection with the Merchant Company came through his fame as a careful man of figures when he became Treasurer to the newly founded Merchant Mainden Hospital. A role he was proud of was his involvement with the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge".
George Watson died on the 3rd April 1723 and is known to be buried in Greyfriars, though no monument was raised to his memory. It was some years later that the Governors of George Watson's College inserted a granite tablet on the west wall to which is attached a metal plate with these words:
"Near this spot is buried GEORGE WATSON, Founder of the George Watson' Hospital. Died 3rd April 1723. Erected by the Governers of the Trust"
He bequeathed the bulk of his fortune, £12,000, to found the hospital school. Since 1923 the site of George Watson's Boys College (amalgamated with the Ladies College in 1974) has been Colinton Road.
Source: Catherine Anderson