Donald Watson (2 September 1910 – 16 November 2005) was an English animal rights and veganism advocate who co-founded The Vegan Society.
Early life
Watson was born in
Mexborough,
Yorkshire, the son of a
headmaster in a mining community.
As a child, Watson spent time on his uncle George's farm. The slaughtering of a pig on the farm horrified Watson; he said his view of farm life changed from idyllic to a death row for animals. Watson began to reassess his practice of eating meat. He became a
vegetarian in 1924 at the age of fourteen, making a New Year's resolution to never again eat meat. He gave up dairy products about 18 years later, having understood the production of milk-related products was also unethical.
He said:
Teaching
Upon leaving school at fifteen, Watson was apprenticed to a family joinery firm, and became a joinery teacher when he was twenty.
He taught in
Leicester, where he also played a large part in the Leicester Vegetarian Society. He moved on to Keswick, where he taught for 23 years. He stayed in the
Lake District for the rest of his life.
For several years, he devoted much time to working as a guided
fell-walking leader,
as well as to
organic farming, until very shortly before his death in 2005.
Veganism and The Vegan Society
Watson did not smoke,
teetotalism, or make contact with foods or substances which he regarded as
toxins. In the 1940s, after learning about milk production; he became a vegan.
He explained his motivation as ethical concern for sentient animals:
Critics claimed that he could not survive on his proposed diet.
Watson and The Vegan Society launched the first edition of the Society's quarterly newsletter, The Vegan News, in 1944.
Watson expanded the vegan philosophy to object to any harm to living creatures. A committed pacifist throughout his life, he registered as a conscientious objector in World War II.
Personal life
Watson enjoyed cycling, photography and playing the violin. While not a supporter of any particular political party, he took a keen interest in political issues throughout his life.
He was an
agnostic.
His brother and sister both adopted vegan lifestyles. All three Watson siblings registered as conscientious objectors during World War II.
Watson married Dorothy Morgan in 1946, and they had one child, Janet. His wife, who was a primary school teacher, predeceased her husband by about 10 years and died around 1994/1995.
Commemoration
In November 2019, a blue plaque was unveiled in honour of Donald Watson at his former Doncaster Road School, in
Mexborough,
South Yorkshire. The plaque was organised by Mexborough and District Heritage Society, and unveiled by Watson's nephew Dr Tim Cook, in honour of the seventy fifth anniversary of the foundation of The Vegan Society.
A heritage panel to recognise Leicester as the home of veganism and to commemorate Watson was installed in March 2024 in Evesham Road, Leicester where he lived in the 1940s.
His funeral was held at St Kentigern's Church, Crosthwaite and he is buried in its cemetery.
See also
-
List of animal rights advocates
External links
