Victor William (Peter) Watson (14 September 1908 – 3 May 1956) was a wealthy English art collector and benefactor. He funded the literary magazine, Horizon, edited by Cyril Connolly.

Life and work

Watson was the son of William George Watson, later Sir George Watson, and was the youngest of three children—his brother Norman was born in 1897 and sister Florence in 1894. He was educated at Lockers Park School,Eton College and St John's College, Oxford.

Watson was an avid art collector acquiring works by such artists as Miró, Klee, and Pablo Picasso, which were displayed in his Paris apartment in the 1930s. He was the principal benefactor of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and also provided financial assistance to English and Irish painters including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and John Craxton. In 1930, society photographer, artist and set designer Sir Cecil Beaton began a lifelong obsession with Watson, though the two never became lovers. One chapter from Hugo Vickers' authorized biography of Cecil Beaton is titled "I Love You, Mr. Watson".

Peter Watson may refer to:

Peter R. Watson was the archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.

Watson was born in Sydney in 1936. He attended Canterbury Boys' High School. He was ordained as a priest in Sydney in 1962 and consecrated as the Bishop of Parramatta (in Sydney) in 1989 and became Bishop of South Sydney in 1993. In 2000 he was elected to succeed Keith Rayner as Archbishop of Melbourne and was installed on 14 May 2000. He retired as archbishop in 2005. He is married to Margo (Eleanor) Watson.

References

Sources

Peter Watson lived in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, ca. 1824, and was a shoemaker by trade.

Peter Watson was a character who was mentioned on page 133 by W & T Fordyce (publishers) in The Tyne Songster published in 1840, in the song "To Mr. Peter Watson - (Who lays powerful bats on the knaves with fire-shovel hats on)", written by Henry Robson in Watson’s honour. It is not written in a Geordie dialect, but has a strong Northern connection.

For centuries, the Government Clergy (i.e. Rector, vicar, or perpetual curate etc.) had the right to collect from each household in a Parish, “Easter Dues”. This was based on a set sum (in the early/middle nineteenth century it was at the rate of 4p per person), and the head of the household had the duty to pay this sum on behalf of every member resident in the property of the age of 16 or more.

Peter Watson objected to this compulsory payment reasoning that “the claims were founded neither in the law or in the gospels”, and was duly summons (and jailed for a short time for non-payment) before the court judged that the collection of these under the Acts of William III were illegal, ruling that "This act, or anything herein contained, shall not extend to any tythes, offerings, payments or oblations shall not extend….. …within any city or town where the same are settled by Act of Parliament" It is therefore the British public who are indebted to him for the removal of this "odious, unjust and oppressive clerical tax".