University to benefit from legacy gift

Several areas of the University including the Botanic Gardens and the Student Hardship Fund are set to benefit as a result of the generosity of a retired chemistry lecturer and her husband.

Dr Kathleen Watson lectured at Dundee between 1948 and 1972 and both she and her husband John maintained a long association with the University.

Mr Watson died in 2007 and as a result of a legacy in his will, money has been gifted to the University.

'John and Kathleen wished to support an institution which, over many years, had meant a great deal to them both,' said Isla Smith, the couple's niece.

'They were both aware that unforeseen circumstances could arise which would place financial pressure on students and it is for that reason that's support was given to the student hardship fund.'

'The siting of the Botanical Gardens was due largely to the efforts of John's best man, Douglas Thomson, who with others got all the garden owners of that stretch of Perth Road to part with the lower end of their gardens.'

'It is also hoped that an amount will go towards helping to preserve a photograph archive for future generations of mountaineers and students of the Arctic.'

John and Kathleen Watson
John Watson was born in Calcutta in 1914 but spent most of his life in Dundee. Like his father, he trained as an accountant. In WW2, he served throughout with the 51st Highland Division. In 1940, he was one of the fortunate few to be rescued from St Valéry. After it was re-formed, he served with the Division through the Desert, Italy and from Normandy into Germany. His considerable organising skills were employed in planning supply dumps of gasoline for the advancing army. Returning to civilian life, he was a partner with the accounting firm, Moody Stuart and Robertson until his retirement in 1978. He was Treasurer of Ogilvy Church at Stobswell for several decades during which time a programme of major renovation and restoration was undertaken.

Kathleen Watson (née Jack) was born in 1912 and brought up in Broughty Ferry. Her schoolmaster father instilled in her an early love of hill walking and a passionate interest in all aspects of the countryside. After gaining a first class degree and then a PhD in Chemistry from Edinburgh University, she became a Lecturer at Dundee University from 1948-72. She spent the first four years of her retirement sitting in on the Geology Honours course. She did not sit finals, thus no doubt sparing the blushes of the real undergraduates, but she revelled in the company of her young fellow students, taking an active part in all the field trips attached to the course.

John and Kathleen met through the Grampian Club and their joint interest in climbing and hill walking saw them record their names as one of the first married Munroists. They also completed their Corbetts. Although their interests were very wide-ranging, they were great supporters of all things Scottish, projects great and small. Soon their sights turned further north, with fourteen trips beyond the Arctic Circle to Norway, Svalbard, Iceland, east and west Greenland and Alaska, some of their earliest trips were completely unsupported. John's interest in photography ensured that all trips were meticulously photographed and recorded and it is hoped that his archive of slides will be made available to a wide audience in the near future.

They delighted in sharing their interest in mountaineering and wild terrain and introduced many friends to their world, always giving great encouragement to novices, whilst at the same time ensuring that appropriate levels of safety were observed as a matter of course. In the early 1960s, they bought a tumbledown cottage in Insh in Speyside, where they extended a warm welcome to legions of friends. From this base, they explored the wild places of the Cairngorms and further afield in Scotland, often with friends and family. Kathleen was a great handknitter and there are many people who proudly sport her unmistakeable patterned woollen gloves and Norwegian or Icelandic style sweaters.

Between them, they held office in many organisations which held their interest, both served time on the committee of the Grampian Club; they were early supporters of the John Muir Trust; John was involved with the Tayside Mountain Rescue for many years. Kathleen was awarded an MBE for her work with SCAT (Scottish Countryside Activities Trust).