John Boyd Watson (September 1828 – 4 June 1889), was a Scottish-born Australian mining magnate and investor.
He initially worked as a currier at Watson, New South Wales, leaving for Sydney in 1850 and then to the Californian Gold Rush, on his return he went to Sandhurst (now Bendigo) in Victoria where he successfully established a number of mining operations, first at Fifth White Hill, then respectively Paddy's Gully, Old Chum Claim on New Chum Hill.
He was a partner in Cornish United Co. and in the late 1860s secured an interest in the adjoining Golden Fleece, Kent and Garden Gully claims.
[2][3] Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland in 1828, he emigrated to Australia with his parents and siblings on the Orestes arriving in Sydney on 14 March 1841.
[2] Watson married Mary Ann Covell on 6 August 1861 at All Saints Anglican Church, Sandhurst.