Naval officer; b. 1714, probably in London, England, son of John Watson; m. 1741 to Rebecca Buller; d. 16 Aug. 1757 at Calcutta, India.

Charles Watson entered the navy in 1728 as a volunteer per order (roughly the equivalent of a modern naval cadet) on the Romney. He was promoted lieutenant on 23 July 1734 and post captain four years later when he was given command of the Guarland, 20 guns. His quick rise through the ranks can probably be attributed to the fact that his uncle, Sir Charles Wager, was first lord of the admiralty.

Watson’s first visit to North America was in the summer of 1738, when the Guarland was sent to protect the fishery at Canso, Nova Scotia. During the next ten years he served in the Mediterranean and with the squadron guarding the western approaches to the English Channel. He returned to North America in 1748 as rear-admiral of the blue, governor of Newfoundland, and commander-in-chief, Cape Breton, an appointment he evidently owed to the patronage of the Duke of Bedford. The War of the Austrian Succession ended in October 1748, and Watson’s main duty became the reduction of the British naval establishment at Louisbourg in preparation for the return of the fortress to France. As governor of Newfoundland he began reconstruction of the magisterial system, revoking the commissions of justices of the peace who were military officers and giving them to civilians. He also attempted to deport Irish and Scots Catholics thought to be disaffected, the presence of large numbers of Catholics having been particularly alarming to the English since the 1745 rising in Scotland.

Watson relinquished his command in 1749. Watson returned to naval service in the West Indies in 1749.

In 1754, he was appointed commander-in-chief in the East Indies. In June 1756, Watson had been promoted to the rank of vice-admiral in the capacity of which he came to the Bengal waters carrying with him Lt Colonel Robert Clive and his small army in December 1756.

Supported by Watson’s guns, Robert Clive led the re-capture of Calcutta from the control of Nawāb sirajuddaula who had previously ousted the British from the settlement. The Fort William was taken by a combined detachment of seamen and soldiers. Then, a few days later, they conquered Hughli port. After taking over Hughli Watson stormed Chandannagar and drove the French out of the settlement. But his greatest achievement was his participation in a series of open and secret negotiations with the elements hostile to Sirajuddaula and finally concluding a secret pact with them for ousting the nawāb in favour of Mir Jafar, the Mir Bakshi or Paymaster General of the nawāb’s army. In the process, Watson always held high his professional commitment. When Clive asked him to sign a false document to beguile Umichand, an unprincipled and greedy merchant in the conspiracy, who threatened Clive that he (Umichand) would divulge the secrecy to the nawāb unless paid handsomely, Watson refused to do so, because it was against his professional ethics. But, for Clive, ethics had little value. He signed the document and silenced the conspirator. In the Battle of Plassey (Palashi), Robert Clive mainly depended on Watson’s marines that acted as the artillery.

The two victors came to blows after the conquest at Plassey. Both of them became keenly interested to become the governor of the Fort William. Clive installed himself as the governor of the fort though he was far junior to Watson in rank and services. Clive threw a duel to Watson unless he recognised him as governor. Admiral Watson refused to accept the duel with a junior ranker. Frustrated and exhausted from the Indian climate Watson died in Calcutta on 16 August 1757. Though buried in Calcutta, a monument to his memory was erected in Westminster Abbey by the East India Company.