John Watson (priest)

John James Watson (1767–1839) was an English clergyman who became prominent in the High Church group known now as the Hackney Phalanx. He became Archdeacon of St Albans in 1816.

John James Watson, 1834 engraving by Charles Turner, after Edmund Thomas Parris

Life

Watson, brother of Joshua Watson, was curate to Jonathan Boucher, a friend of his father, at Epsom. From 1799 he was vicar, and then rector, of Hackney, at that time east of London proper. Appointed Archdeacon of St Albans in 1816, he held onto the rectorship of Hackney. Henry Handley Norris was Watson's curate, and brother-in-law, and held a post at South Hackney from 1809. The Watson brothers and Norris became the core members of the "Hackney Phalanx", with shared orthodox Anglican beliefs and family ties.^[1][2]

Others who acted as curates to Watson were George Townsend and Edward Churton. Churton married Watson's eldest daughter, Caroline.^[3][4]

Family

Watson married Caroline Powell, sister of the elder Baden Powell (13 Dec 1725 - 31 Jan 1810),^[5] the merchant;^[6] Powell's daughter Henrietta married Henry Handley Norris. Powell's other sister Susanna (24 Nov 1765 - 20 Jan 1846)^[5] married Thomas Sikes ( - 14 Dec 1834),^[5][6] vicar of Guilsborough, and Watson's friend from the University of Oxford. Joshua Watson married Mary Sikes, sister of Thomas Sikes. The younger Baden Powell (22 Aug 1796 - 11 Jun 1860)^[5] was therefore nephew to John James Watson.^[7][8]

References

1. Colin Podmore (22 July 2005). Aspects of Anglican Identity. Church House Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-7151-4074-1. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
2. Nockles, Peter B. "Norris, Henry Handley". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20274. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. Agnew, Sinéad. "Townsend, George". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27609. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Murphy, G. Martin. "Churton, Edward". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5408. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. "The Powell Pedigree: 500 years of family history Prepared by Robin Baden Clay (6 February, 2001) - including an Ancestor MAP for Rev. Prof. Baden POWELL - part of the homepage on the 1860 publication: "Essays and Reviews" by (Church of England theologians) Temple, Williams, Powell, Wilson, Goodwin, Pattison and Jowett". Archived from the original on 2 July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
6. Pietro Corsi (26 May 1988). Science and Religion: Baden Powell and the Anglican Debate, 1800-1860. Cambridge University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-521-24245-5. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
7. E. A. Varley (11 April 2002). The Last of the Prince Bishops: William Van Mildert and the High Church Movement of the Early Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-521-89231-5. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
8. Corsi, Pietro. "Powell, Baden". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22642. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)