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The Watt Family
The Watt
Story
Watch a video about the Watt Family history, from their origins in Donegal & Haddington to their life in the Hunter
People's Papers
Flip through the Watt family documents, photos and news clippings.
Robert Cunningham WATT
Susannah McDivot
- Robert Cunningham
- Andrew Rutherford
- Alexander
- Neil
- Margaret
- Susannah
Robert Cunningham Watt was born in Haddington near Edinburgh Scotland in DATE. At the age of AGE he married Susannah McDivot, an Irish catholic from Donegal, in the north of Ireland and they had 3 children, all born in Donegal before emigrating to Australia in 1842.
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Ireland
in the 1600s Scottish plantationists settled in Ireland's north as part of the British occupation of Ireland. Amongst those arriving in the area of Raemelton, Donegal were the Stuart, Buchannan and Watt families. Under Scot's clan system the Watt's are under the Buchannan tartan and have ties to the Stuart noble line - not necessarily related but economical or employment so it wasn't unusual for a group with related ties in Scotland to settle together in Ireland. Raemelton under the Scots was a linen town with shipping connections to the US and West Indes. Haddington in Scotland was also a linen town and more than likely the Watt's were in the line trade. Then they started making whiskey. By the 1920s the Watt's, who continued to have a family home in Raemelton moved their whiskey factory to Londonderry, had one of the largest distillery businesses in the world. Their premium product was Tra??
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It's unknown where Robert Cunningham fitted into this family line or what made him decide to move to Australia in 1842. In the 1840s convict labour was still being brought in and the assisted passage system had not yet evolved. Nor had the famine of 1850s hit Ireland. Gold hadn't yet been discovered in the colony either but as always young men and women were keen to leave their ancestral homes and strike out on their own.
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We can speculate that it may have had to do with Robert and Susannah's 'mixed marriage'. It was uncommon for Scottish Prespreterian and Irish Catholics to marry. We know that Robert and Susannah maintained an unusual mixed religion marriage with the boys christened as Presbyterians and the girls baptised Catholics.
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Australia
After arriving in Sydney Cove the young family headed north to Maitland. Maitland was an agricultural town. At the time of their arrival, Maitland had neither a catholic or presbyterian church and the Watt's contributed donations to the building of each. Robert Watt may also have helped to build them using his skills as a carpenter.
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The Watts lived in X street which contained a couple of tradespersons and merchants.
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They had at least another child
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In X Susannah died leaving the widower Robert to raise x young children. Several years later he remarried NAME and although they had several children none survived childhood. His second wife died.
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Robert died in DATE all his children were married, most working in the hotel business his son Andrew died a hero.
Robert Cunningham WATT
Catherine Smith
Born:
Married:
Married:
Died:
- Robert Cunningham
- Andrew Rutherford
- Alexander
- Neil
- Margaret
- Susannah
- Amelia
- A few more
Although newspapers refer to "Bob" as speaking with a thick Irish accent, he actually left Ireland as a small boy.
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Childhood in Maitland
We don't really know too much about this. His mother died at age ?
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The Smith's appear to have been family friends of some sort but we don't know how the relationship came about. Socially the Watt's were middle-class merchant/traders while Margaret and John were convicts with a tumultuous relationship and continuing drinking habits. The Catholic - Presprtyrian Scots - Irish Watt's had little else in common with the CofE English Smiths. However, there must have been a relationship at some level as Robert, Margaret and Susannah? all married the Smith children.
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Adult life in Newcastle
The publican in town.
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Brother and sister were publicans in Newcastle and Neil ran pubs in Maitland before working for Tooths.
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Building up the city
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Whiskey and Race horses
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Family tragedies
Alexander WATT
Louisa Rowe
Born:
Married:
Married:
Died:
- Robert
- Neil
- Alec Edward
- Maise
- Ella
- Myra
Alex Watt married Singleton girl Louisa Rowe splitting their time between Singleton and Newcastle
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A past connection
when Alex's mother in law Bridget arrived in Australia in 185? she was assigned to the Irish born Quiglan family in Maitland. The Quiglan's seem to have wanted to help Irish settlers in Australia and it wasn't uncommon for Irish families to take on one of the orphan girls. The Quinlan's later sponsored x Quinlan's brother to come to Australia from Ireland. But things didn't work out with Bridget, she sought to end her indentureship and subsequently left Maitland and married James Rowe, running a pub in Broke where their daughter Louisa was born. At the same time back in Maitland the Watt, Smith and Quiglan families were well known to each other, even attending each other's weddings as witnesses. We don't know if Bridget ever found out her daughter was marrying into friends of the Quiglan family. Alex grew up in Newcastle, not Maitland so might not have had first-hand knowledge.
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The Catholic Connection
Marrying an Irish catholic like his grandfather, Alex converted to catholicism. This wasn't a big issue in his family where half the Watt's were Catholic.
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Pubs
Louisa and Alex both grew up the children of publicans so taking on that role licensee of the Watt Family Hotel at islington after his parent's death.
Alec Edward WATT
Marjorie Rowan
Born:
Married:
Married:
Died:
- Neville John
- Dianne Marcia
Alec wasn't a drinker but he grew up the son and grandson of publicans, a distant descendent of a whiskey empire and met his future wife in her family's hotel.
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Childhood - a smart athletic kid
Gifted at mathematics and rugby
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A Career in the Railways
If the Watt's weren't holding publican's licences they were working in the railways and Alec chose that path. By the war he was head shunter at Port Waratah / Broadmeadow so was considered a protected job. He was also marginally too old for service in the war, having been marginally too young for service in WWI.
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What kind of father
Dianne still has her father's cigarette card collection. he was a regular smoker. played dominoes. had a soft affection for Marjorie. On most Saturday's /Sunday's Marji would join her sisters to take the kids to the afternoon pictures. Alec woudl see them off and while they were gone put together the Sunday roast and baked dinner so that when they returned dinner was ready.
