He moved to New Zealand, where he worked as a schoolteacher, becoming headmaster of the Campbell Street School in Palmerston North.
[1] Watson played only a single match at first-class level,[2] representing a combined "West Coast" team, which consisted of players from the western regions of New Zealand's North Island.
In the match, against Wellington at the Basin Reserve in December 1879, Watson batted third in the West Coast first innings, scoring six runs.
[3] In retirement, Watson settled on a small farm near Te Puke, in the Bay of Plenty, dying there in October 1930.
[1] His older brother, George Watson, was also a cricketer and schoolteacher, and played several matches for Canterbury.