Robert Watson was an industrialist and political figure in Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada. He represented Marquette

Marquette (electoral district)

Marquette was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1979.This riding was created in 1871 following the creation of the province of Manitoba in 1870....

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1883 to 1892 as a Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 and Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie (provincial electoral district)

Portage La Prairie is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It has existed since the province's creation in 1870.Portage La Prairie is located in southern Manitoba...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 as a Liberal

Manitoba Liberal Party

The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 from 1892 to 1899. Watson sat for Portage la Prairie division in the Senate of Canada from 1900 to 1929.

He was born in Elora

Elora, Ontario

Elora is a community in the township of Centre Wellington, Wellington County, Ontario, Canada. It is well known for its 19th-century limestone architecture, its artistic community and the geographically significant Elora Gorge.-History:...

, Canada West, the son of George Watson and Elizabeth McDonald, both natives of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and became a millwright

Millwright

A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...

 there. In 1876, he moved to Manitoba and built mills at Portage la Prairie

Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

-Transportation:Portage la Prairie railway station is served by Via Rail with both The Canadian and Winnipeg – Churchill trains calling at the station....

 and Stonewall

Stonewall, Manitoba

Stonewall is a town in the Canadian province of Manitoba with a population of 4,376 as of the 2006 census. The town is situated approximately north of Winnipeg on PTH 67. It is known for its limestone quarries. The local festival is the Quarry Days which is usually held over three days in August...

. In partnership with his brother, he operated a machine shop and planing

Planing (shaping)

Planing is a manufacturing process of material removal in which the workpiece reciprocates against a stationary single-point cutting tool producing a plane or sculpted surface. Planing is analogous to shaping. The main difference between these two processes is that in shaping the tool...

 mills. Watson was also president of the Manitoba and Saskatchewan Coal Company and the Central Electric Company. Watson married Isobel Brown in 1880. He served two years as a member of the town council for Portage la Prairie before entering federal politics. Watson resigned his seat in the House of Commons in 1892 to enter provincial politics. He served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Public Works from 1892 to 1900. He died in office in Brandon

Brandon, Manitoba

Brandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...

at the age of 76.