William Watson (died 20 November 1559) was an English merchant and shipowner living in London in the reign of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
He was the royal purchasing agent in the Baltic from 1538 to 1559, chiefly tasked with supplying the English fleet with masts, cordage and other naval stores.
[4][5] In 1544 William Watson wrote to Duke Albrecht of Prussia from Danzig: "My brother Richard asked me in a letter to send some English dogs to Your Grace.
[1][5][7] In 1546, through William Watson's mediation, Henry VIII negotiated with the Danzig city council for the purchase of masts, cordage and other naval stores and in 1558 Mary I negotiated with the king of Poland, Sigismund II Augustus, to allow Watson to export essential materials for the English fleet from Danzig free of customs duty.
[8] William Watson was briefly succeeded as Crown agent in Danzig by John Borthwick in 1560 and then from 1561, the London leather merchant, Thomas Allen, who was later a member of the Eastland Company.