Rev. Fisher Watson (1789-1873).
Curate of St Mary the Virgin, Martham.

Rev. Watson was born on 28^th October 1789 at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His parents were John Watson & Mary, nee Fisher and he was baptised at St Nicholas Church on 6^th November the same year. ,

He obtained his B.A. at Saint John’s College, Cambridge in 1812 and was ordained a deacon the same year at Norwich Cathedral.

Soon after becoming a deacon he became a curate to Rev. Paul Whittingham at St Mary the Virgin, Martham where he stayed from 27^th November 1812 to 1814. During this period, he was ordained as a priest at Norwich Cathedral on 29^th December 1813. As a curate at Martham his stipend was £40 per year.

When he was 26, he married Louisa Sarah Lacon the daughter of Sir Edmund Lacon, 1st Baronet Lacon, of Great Yarmouth, and Eliza, nee Knowles at St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth on 20^th November 1815. Fisher & Louisa went on the have fourteen children at Great Yarmouth, they were:

1. Louisa Watson was born in about 1817.
2. Harriot Anne Watson was born in 1818.
3. Mary Anne Watson was born in about 1819.
4. Marianne Jane Watson was born in 1821.
5. Elizabeth Watson was born in about 1822.
6. Henry Lacon Watson was born in 1823. He also became a vicar.
7. Mary Lacon Watson was born in 1823.
8. John Edmund Watson was born in 1826. He became an Army Colonel.
9. George Willes Watson was born in 1827 and died in 1897. He was knighted and was a Vice-Admiral.
10. Caroline Watson was born in about 1828.
11. Frederick Fisher Watson was born in about 1831 and went on to follow his father as the vicar of Lancing, Sussex. He died in 1883 at Lancing.
12. Maria Watson was born about 1831.
13. Charles Edward Watson was born in about 1834.
14. Arthur Watson was born in 1835 and also became a vicar. He died in 1920 on the Isle of Wight.

Fisher was appointed as the Clerk in Holy Orders at St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth on 10^th January 1817 at a ceremony held at the Tolhouse and remained the vicar until 27^th September 1821.

In 1834 he moved, with his wife, to become the vicar of Lancing, Sussex where he was appointed on 24^th November that year. He was to remain there until his retirement as shown in the census returns for 1841, 1851, and 1861 by which time he had retired but his son Frederick Fisher Watson had taken over his post and they all lived in The Vicarage at Lancing.

Fisher’s wife, Louisa, died on 10^th December 1865 and he died on 23^rd August 1873 having retired to Hove, near Brighton.

Sources: Appointment information courtesy of the: Clergy of the Church of England Database at https://theclergydatabase.org.uk

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