Dr Hugh Ferguson Watson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

FRFPS MRCP DPH (1874–1946) was a 19th/20th-century Scottish physician who came to notoriety during the suffragette struggles of the early 20th century, particularly with reference to the

Cat and Mouse Act The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act 1913, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom under H. H. Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. The Cat and Mouse Act wa ...

in his capacity as medical officer to the Scottish Prison Service.

Life

He was born on 26 March 1874 at Markethill Farm near

Lochwinnoch Lochwinnoch (; , ) is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is chiefly a residential dormitory v ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...

, south-west of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. His father was William Drummond Watson (1846–1921) a tenant farmer, and his mother was Annie Neill (1852–1927). In 1881 his family had moved to

Ochiltree Ochiltree is a conservation village in East Ayrshire, Scotland, near Auchinleck and Cumnock. It is one of the oldest villages in East Ayrshire, with archaeological remains indicating Stone Age and Bronze Age settlers. A cinerary urn was found i ...

. He was educated at

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...

and was school dux. He studied medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

graduating MB ChB in 1911 and gaining his doctorate (MD) in 1913. He then took the unusual role as medical officer of

Peterhead Prison HMP Peterhead was a prison in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, operating from 1888 to 2013. Since June 2016, the former grounds operate as the Peterhead Prison Museum. History Peterhead Convict Prison was built around 1888. It was designed ...

from 1913. In this capacity, he volunteered in February 1914 to force-feed

Ethel Moorhead Ethel Agnes Mary Moorhead (28 August 18694 March 1955) was a British suffragette and Painting, painter and was the first suffragette in Scotland to be forcibly-fed. She was also a patron of ''This Quarter'', a journal published by Ernest Walsh ...

on hunger strike at Calton Jail in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Ethel was later released into the care of Dr Grace Cadell, a rare (and sympathetic) female physician who had a sanctuary for suffragettes on

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the str ...

. Later in 1914 he was the official physician at the

force-feeding Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term ''gavage'' (, , ) refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose (nasogastric tube, nasogastric) or mouth (o ...

of four female prisoners held at Perth Prison and subject to the new

aimed to stem the suffragettes going on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

. In this capacity he crossed swords with

Arabella Scott Arabella Scott (7 May 1886 – 27 August 1980) was a Scottish teacher, suffragette hunger striker and women's rights campaigner. As a member of the Women's Freedom League (WFL) she took a petition to Downing Street in July 1909. She subsequen ...

, breaking her front teeth in the act of forcing the metal feed tube into her mouth. Other suffragettes treated were

Mary Richardson Mary Raleigh Richardson (1882/3 – 7 November 1961) was a Canadian suffragette active in the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom, an arsonist, a socialist parliamentary candidate and later head of the women's section of the ...

Frances Gordon Frances Graves aka Frances Gordon (born around 1874) was a British suffragette who became prominent in the militant wing of the Scottish women's suffrage movement prior to the First World War and was imprisoned and force-fed for her actions. ...

Maude Edwards Maude Edwards was a Scottish feminist and suffragette. She was imprisoned in HM Prison Perth, Perth Prison in 1914 for slashing John Lavery’s portrait of George V, King George V hanging in the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. She was forc ...

and Fanny Parker. The method was changed from force-feeding to nutrient-rich suppositories, but if anything, this increased public outrage. Watson stayed on at Perth Prison until 1920, when he was appointed medical deputy commissioner to the General Board of Control for Scotland. In 1923 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

Andrew Freeland Fergus Dr Andrew Freeland Fergus FRSE LLD (1858–1932) was a Scottish ophthalmic surgeon. He was President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Glasgow, President of the Chirurgical Society, President of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, and ...

Sir Robert Muir Sir Robert Muir (5 July 1864 – 30 March 1959) was a Scottish physician and pathologist who carried out pioneering work in immunology, and was one of the leading figures in medical research in Glasgow in the early 20th century. Life He was ...

Frederick Orpen Bower Frederick Orpen Bower FRSE FRS (4 November 1855 – 11 April 1948) was an English botanist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1891. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society in 1909 and the Darwin Medal of the Ro ...

, and

Thomas Hastie Bryce Prof Thomas Hastie Bryce LLD FRS FSA FRSE (20 October 1862 – 16 May 1946) was a Scottish anatomist, medical author and archaeologist. He was Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow 1909 to 1935 and also Curator of the Hunteri ...

. He died at the City hospital in

on 16 June 1946, but was buried with family members in

Mauchline Mauchline (; ) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial. Location The town lies by the Glasgow and South Western Railway ...

Cemetery in

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

Family

In December 1916 he married Donella Anne Aitkens of

Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

at St Cuthberts Church at Philbeach Gardens in London.

References

1874 births 1946 deaths People from Renfrewshire People educated at Ayr Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow 20th-century Scottish medical doctors Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Force-feeding victims People from Ochiltree {{Scotland-med-bio-stub