James Wreford Watson
| James Wreford Watson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 8, 1915 Shensi, China |
| Died | September 18, 1990 (aged 75) |
| Occupation | Geographer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Scottish, Canadian |
| Citizenship |
 Canadian |
| Notable awards | Governor General's Award |
| Spouse | Jessie Watson née Black |
| Children | Margaret, James |
James Wreford Watson (February 8, 1915 – September 18, 1990) was a Scottish Canadian geographer and cartographer, who served as the Chief Geographer of Canada and the first president of the Canadian Association of Geographers. He was also a poet who wrote under the name James Wreford and was the recipient of Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, for his poetry.
James Wreford Watson was born in Shaanxi, China, in 1915, the son of Evelyn Russell Watson and James Watson, a clergyman.
Watson was educated in China and Scotland, and received his B.A. from the University of Edinburgh in 1936. In 1937 he began teaching at the University of Sheffield.
In 1939 Watson married Jessie Black, a University of Edinburgh professor of education, who would bear him two children, Margaret and James. The couple moved to Canada the same year.
Watson took a position at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, as the University's first regular appointment in geography. He lectured at McMaster from 1939 to 1949. In 1945 he received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.
In 1949 Watson moved to Ottawa to become chief geographer for the Government of Canada, a position he held until 1954. He held a concurrent appointment at Ottawa's Carleton University from 1951 to 1954.
Watson became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1953. In 1954, though, he returned to Scotland, to take the University of Edinburgh's chair of geography.
He taught at the University of Edinburgh from 1954 to 1975. From 1975 to 1982 he was the director of the Centre for Canadian Studies, in Edinburgh. During that time he was also visiting professor at Queen's University (1959–1960, 1963, 1978), University of Manitoba (1969–1970), University of British Columbia (1971), Simon Fraser University (1976–1977), and the University of Calgary (1980–1981 and 1983).
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