Ada Jane Watson (née Low; 4 February 185518 July 1921) was the wife of

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...

, the third

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

Early life

Ada Jane Low was born in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, and arrived in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

as a two-year-old in 1857. She was accompanied by her parents, William and Emily Jane Low, and siblings, Edward and Alice, as an "assisted immigrant" on the ship ''Light of the Age''. Two further siblings, Adelaide and Agnes, were born in New South Wales in the years that followed the family's arrival and settling in Bathurst.

Personal life

Low and Watson were wed on 27 November 1889 at the Unitarian Church, Liverpool Street, Sydney, shortly before he was elected to the New South Wales Trades and Labour Council. She was not involved in her husband's political career, except to support his decision to resign as Labor leader in 1907. She may also have been influential in her husband's later estrangement from the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

. Watson died at her home in

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

on 18 July 1921, from a bout of influenza that developed into pneumonia. She was buried at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a Heritage register, heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte, New South Wales, Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, ...

. Owing partly to her husband's brief term as prime minister, Ada Watson is possibly the least well-known of prime ministerial spouses in Australia. No photograph of her has ever been found.

References

External links

Australia's Prime Ministers: Ada Watson
National Archives of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Ada Spouses of prime ministers of Australia English emigrants to colonial Australia 1855 births 1921 deaths People from Bexley Infectious disease deaths in New South Wales Burials at Waverley Cemetery Colony of New South Wales people