[1][2] Her parents were Elizabeth "Bessie" (née Dempsey), a Johannesburg native, and William Hives Eastwood, born in England.
[1] Her father was a businessman and Member of the Legislative Council who served as a cabinet minister of the portfolios of Health, Education, and Transport in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
[1][7] Before entering politics, Watson was a birth control advocate and the vice-chair of the Bulawayo Family Planning Association.
[8] In 1955, the association opened the first family planning clinic for whites in Bulawayo in the Margaret Roe Child Welfare Centre.
[2] Nevertheless, Watson's United Federal Party lost power that election to Rhodesian Front, who gained a solid majority of 35 seats, compared to the UFP's 29.