🥃 James Watson & Co
It might have made more sense to send this email a few weeks ago rather than today. Although I do schedule ideas for articles in advance, I often chop and change so that I can write about whatever has grabbed my attention at the time. After all, it’s easier to write about something you’re genuinely enthusiastic about rather than rigidly following a spreadsheet.
But, with hindsight, this email would have probably slotted in better between that of The House of Sanderson and Not Black & White.
And that’s because this week’s topic links both...
Now, as mentioned quite a few times before, the First World War created increasingly choppy economic waters for a number of Scotch whisky firms. Amalgamations and mergers ensued – not only as a way of navigating them but also as a way of trying to stabilise the market.
In 1916, James Buchanan & Co merged with John Dewar & Sons to (eventually) form Buchanan-Dewar Ltd. This new collaboration then went on to add several Scotch whisky firms to its portfolio, including the well-established Dundee business of James Watson & Co.
The company itself was established a hundred years previously, in 1815, by James Watson – ahem, the clue was in the name. He died in 1861 and it appears as though his sons – Robert Lowson Watson and James Watson – subsequently took over the running of the business which included building Parkmore Distillery in Dufftown.
Now, Robert Lowson Watson is a name we’ve come across before as he was one of the directors of the Clydesdale Distillery Company. You can read that article HERE.
When Robert died in 1896, his directorship of the Clydesdale Distillery Company was taken over by his half-brother, the fabulously named John Jabez Watson.
Let’s rewind a wee bit...
James Watson – the founder of the firm – had been married twice. His first wife died in August 1844, leaving him to bring up their young family. So, quicker than you can say grief-stricken, James had re-married in July the following year. Robert Lowson Watson and John Jabez Watson were, as the cool kids say, brothers from another mother.
It was probably Robert’s death that prompted the incorporation of James Watson & Co into a limited company. With a capital of £500,000 (approximately £60 million today), the first subscribers were: John Jabez Watson and his brother, Thomas; their half-brother, William Borwick Watson; Robert’s widow, Jane; John’s wife, Eliza. Oh, and some bloke called James Ramsay Teviotdale.
The first directors of the firm were half-brothers John Jabez and James Watson together with this Teviotdale bloke. Not much is known about him other than the few bits of information garnered from various newspaper reports where, quite frankly, he comes across as a complete chancer.
Robert Lowson Watson’s son – also called Robert Lowson Watson because they didn’t want to makes things easy for the likes of me – did later also become a director of the company. He went on to serve as a captain with the Black Watch Regiment during the First World War and, during a short furlough in February 1916, died of heart failure at home in Dundee.
But, for the most part, the firm remained very much a family business.
In the same year as Robert Snr’s death – 1896 - James Watson & Co Ltd acquired Ord Distillery near Inverness. And then in October that year, the firm built a new bonded warehouse in Dundee.
The firm had expanded their premises several times over the years due to the phenomenal growth of the company. Remember, the Scotch whisky industry as a whole was very much enjoying a boom period at this time and James Watson & Co was no exception to this.
Having found their premises on the north side of Seagate to be inadequate, the firm went on to secure premises on the opposite side of the street, to use as offices and duty-paid warehousing. Although this was later extended to include a large bonded warehouse, it still proved to be insufficient.
In 1890, a seven-storey block known as the New Bond was added and the 1896 extension continued into Trades Lane.
The buildings still stand today and should give you an idea of the immense stocks of whisky the firm held, which were eventually acquired by Buchanan-Dewar Ltd in 1923.
And in tomorrow’s email for paying subscribers, there’ll be more about just how extensive those stocks were.
Now, at this point, you might be wondering what the Sandersons had to do with all of this. Well, William Sanderson was not only a close business associate of James Watson, but also a personal friend. In fact, he even gave one of his sons the Watson name. And when James’s son, Robert Lowson Watson Sr., died, William Sanderson was appointed as one of the trustees of his estate. So, the families knew each other well.
The relationship, however, was to continue.
Robert had seven children, including a daughter, Ethel. And in 1905, she married William’s son, Arthur Watson Sanderson.
As I keep saying, all paths lead to Leith!
Slà inte! Justine