Donald Watson (2 September 1910 – 16 November 2005) was an English

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

and

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

advocate who co-founded

The Vegan Society The Vegan Society is a registered charity and the oldest vegan organization in the world, founded in the United Kingdom in 1944 by Donald Watson, Elsie Shrigley, George Henderson and his wife Fay Henderson among others. History In Novembe ...

Early life

Watson was born in

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster, City of Doncaster District, South Yorkshire, England, between Manvers and Denaby Main, on the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road. It is co ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, the son of a headmaster in a mining community. As a child, Watson spent time on his uncle George's farm. The slaughtering of a pig on the farm horrified Watson; he said his view of farm life changed from idyllic to a death row for animals. Watson began to reassess his practice of eating meat. He became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

in 1924 at the age of fourteen, making a New Year's resolution to never again eat meat. He gave up dairy products about 18 years later, having understood the production of milk-related products was also unethical. He said:

Teaching

Upon leaving school at fifteen, Watson was apprenticed to a family joinery firm, and became a joinery teacher when he was twenty. He taught in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, where he also played a large part in the Leicester Vegetarian Society. He moved on to Keswick, where he taught for 23 years. He stayed in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

for the rest of his life. For several years, he devoted much time to working as a guided fell-walking leader, as well as to organic vegetable gardening, until very shortly before his death in 2005.

Veganism and The Vegan Society

Watson did not smoke, consume alcohol, or make contact with foods or substances which he regarded as

toxins A toxin is a naturally occurring poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. They occur especially as proteins, often conjugated. The term was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849–1919), derived ...

. In the 1940s, after learning about milk production; he became a vegan. He explained his motivation as ethical concern for sentient animals: Critics claimed that he could not survive on his proposed diet. In November 1944, in

, he and his wife, Dorothy, along with four friends— Elsie Shrigley, Mr G. A. Henderson and his wife Fay K. Henderson among them—founded The Vegan Society. They separated from the London Vegetarian Society and founded The Vegan Society because the former group refused to support veganism, which they saw as extreme and antisocial. (However, Watson remained a member of the London Vegetarian Society to keep in touch with the movement.) They had also decided they needed a word to describe their new way of life. The word 'vegan' was coined by Watson and his then-future wife Dorothy Morgan from the first three and last two letters of 'vegetarian' in 1944. Watson and The Vegan Society launched the first edition of the Society's quarterly newsletter, ''The Vegan News'', in 1944. He ran the publication single-handed for two years, writing and duplicating the newsletter, and responding to the increasing volume of correspondence. Watson expanded the vegan philosophy to object to any harm to living creatures. A committed

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

throughout his life, he registered as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

in World War II.

Personal life

Watson enjoyed cycling, photography and playing the violin. While not a supporter of any particular political party, he took a keen interest in political issues throughout his life. He was an agnostic. His brother and sister both adopted vegan lifestyles. All three Watson siblings registered as conscientious objectors during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Watson married Dorothy Morgan in 1946, and they had one child, Janet. His wife, who was a primary school teacher, predeceased her husband by about 10 years and died around 1994/1995.

Commemoration

In November 2019, a blue plaque was unveiled in honour of Donald Watson at his former Doncaster Road School, in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

. The plaque was organised by Mexborough and District Heritage Society, and unveiled by Watson's nephew Dr Tim Cook, in honour of the seventy fifth anniversary of the foundation of The Vegan Society. A heritage panel to recognise Leicester as the home of veganism and to commemorate Watson was installed in March 2024 in Evesham Road, Leicester where he lived in the 1940s. His funeral was held at St Kentigern's Church, Crosthwaite and he is buried in its cemetery.

References

External links

First issue of ''"The Vegan News"'', the Vegan Society newsletter
November 1944, Published and written by Donald Watson. Accessed November 2009
Ripened by human determination: 70 years of The Vegan Society
Document explores how Donald Watson and others founded The Vegan Society.
Vegan Society 70th anniversary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Donald 1910 births 2005 deaths English veganism activists English agnostics English animal rights activists English conscientious objectors English pacifists Organization founders People associated with the Vegetarian Society People from Mexborough