Watson, Alexander
b. 1831
d. 1892
Alexander Watson of Scotland came to Victoria in 1859 and became the Colonial Treasurer of Vancouver Island from 1861-1866.1 When Watson came to Victoria he was the accountant for the Bank of British North America, but upon the dismissal of George Tomline Gordon, Watson was appointed to be the Colonial Treasurer of Vancouver Island by Douglas to replace Gordon.2 He was appointed with a salary of 500 pounds per year that was later increased to 600 pounds.3 Edgar Fawcett described Watson as clever but not very popular.4 Newcastle was initially unpleased with the appointment of Watson as three other people hired by Douglas had proved defaulters, but as Watson had already quit his job at the bank to take the position, Newcastle let him remain as Treasurer so as not to bring any hardship upon Watson.5 Watson’s services were terminated with the union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia in November 1866.6 He later became the general inspector of the Bank of British Columbia.7
Watson married Jessie McKenzie in 1863, who was the daughter of Kenneth McKenzie of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Craigflower Farm. They later lived in California.8
  • 1. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 634.; Alan Pritchard, ed., The Vancouver Island Letters of Edmund Hope Verney, 1862-65 (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1996), 271.
  • 2. Douglas to Newcastle, 28 December 1861, 2193, CO 305/17, p. 563.
  • 3. Douglas to Newcastle, 28 December 1861, 2193, CO 305/17, p. 563.; Kennedy to Newcastle, 20 May 1864, 3933, CO 305/22, p. 232.
  • 4. Edgar Fawcett, Some Reminiscences of Old Victoria (Toronto: William Briggs, 1912), 70.
  • 5. Newcastle to Douglas, 15 March 1862, NAC, RG7, G8C/3, p. 44.
  • 6. Robert Louis Smith,The Hankin Appointment, 1868, BC Studies no. 22 (Summer 1974): 26.
  • 7. Andrew Scott, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia (Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2009), 634.
  • 8. Daughters Married, The Daily Colonist, 30 May 1948.
Mentions of this person in the documents
The Colonial Despatches Team. Watson, Alexander. The Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871, Edition 2.0, ed. The Colonial Despatches Team. Victoria, B.C.: University of Victoria. https://bcgenesis.uvic.ca/watson.html.

Last modified: 2020-03-30 13:22:16 -0700 (Mon, 30 Mar 2020) (SVN revision: 4193)