Sir Brook Watson, 1st Baronet, (7 February 1735 – 2 October 1807) was a British merchant, soldier and one-time Lord Mayor of London who was perhaps most famous for being the subject of Watson and the Shark, a painting by John Singleton Copley which depicted the shark attack on Watson as a boy. As a result of the attack, Watson lost his right leg below the knee.
Watson was the only son of John Watson and Sarah Watson (née Schoefield). Born in Plym...
more
Sir Brook Watson, 1st Baronet, (7 February 1735 – 2 October 1807) was a British merchant, soldier and one-time Lord Mayor of London who was perhaps most famous for being the subject of Watson and the Shark, a painting by John Singleton Copley which depicted the shark attack on Watson as a boy. As a result of the attack, Watson lost his right leg below the knee.
Watson was the only son of John Watson and Sarah Watson (née Schoefield). Born in Plymouth, Devon in 1735, he was orphaned in 1741 and was subsequently sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Boston, Massachusetts. His uncle was a merchant who traded in the West Indies. Watson had ‘before the age of fourteen years manifested a strong predilection for the sea’ and so his uncle sent him to sea as a crew member on one of his merchant ships.
It was whilst swimming alone in Havana harbour, Cuba in 1749 that Watson was attacked by a shark. He was fourteen at the time. The shark attacked twice before he was rescued. The first time,...
less
