Chris Watson

John Christian Watson (9 April 1867 (exact date uncertain) - 18 November1941), Australian politician and third Prime Minister of Australia, usually known as Chris Watson, was born in Valparaíso, Chile, probably on April 9 1867. In his lifetime he maintained that his father was a British seaman called George Watson. In fact his father was a Chilean citizen of German descent, Johan Cristian Tanck. His mother was a New Zealander, Martha Minchin, who had married Tanck in New Zealand and then gone to sea with him. In 1868 his parents separated, and in 1869 she married George Watson, whose name young Chris then took. None of these facts were known until after Watson's death.

See also

• Watson Ministry

Further reading

• Al Grassby and Silvia Ordonez, The Man Time Forgot: The Life and Times of John Christian Watson, Australia's First Labor Prime Minister, Pluto Press 1999
• Ross McMullin, So Monstrous a Travesty: Chris Watson and the World's First National Labour Government, Scribe Press 2004