Lives in Cricket No 39 - Alec Watson

12 alone being born in Old Monkland; there appears to have been no requirement to state the exact place in Ireland where the births took place. There was too a ‘lodger’, Robert Watson, also from Ireland. No relationship is given, but he was probably related to the Watsons. The likelihood then is that these Watsons left Ireland for Scotland during the Great Famine, probably in 1847 or 1848, to take advantage of the work opportunities in the burgeoning industrial centre of Coatbridge. Alec possibly remembered little of Ireland, and always seemed to have presented himself as a Scot born in Coatbridge, even to his friends and in later census returns. His accent also seems to have been Scots rather than Irish. The problem still remains as to where in Ireland Watson was born. It is compounded by the fact that the census returns for the years before 1901 were destroyed in a fire in the Irish Record Office in Dublin, along with a large number of other relevant records. Thus reliance has largely to be placed on church records. Many of these too have been lost or destroyed or become indecipherable through age, with the result that what has survived is a rather random sample with large gaps. Consequently much of what follows has to be regarded as probability rather than certainty. The only extant record which seems relevant is one for a marriage in the Rosemary Street Presbyterian Church (still extant) in Belfast on Christmas Day, 25 December, 1839. It was between Robert Watson of Gloucester, England, and Elizabeth Ireland of Little Donegal Street, Belfast, the officiating clergyman being the Rev S. Hanna. Robert’s father was noted as George Watson, and Elizabeth’s as John Ireland. Their mothers’ names were not recorded. Robert may have been living and working in Gloucester only on a temporary basis, meeting Elizabeth on visits home. Little Donegal Street lies close to Rosemary Street just to the north of Belfast city centre, in an area which is being redeveloped. Belfast street directories of the time, which concerned themselves mainly with those in the professions or trade or business, give no decisive clues about the above persons. Also there appear to be no records of the births or baptisms of the Watsons’ children. The above information just about fits in with what we know of the cricketer’s family. His father Robert, probably the bridegroom above, called his eldest son George, presumably after his own father; a common enough custom at the time. Robert also had a son John, possibly called after his other grandfather, John Ireland. Two of Alec’s sons were named George and John, which suggests a family connection; though of course these names were common Early Life