Artist: Robert Wadsworth Grafton (1876–1936)
Hugh Watson
WATSON, HUGH (1787–1865), inducted between 1920–1934
Born in Meigle, Perthshire, Scotland, Hugh Watson was a breed founder and the first systematic and successful improver of Angus cattle. His family was involved in breeding as early as 1735, and Watson became a tenant at Keillor in 1808, at age nineteen. He started his herd with six of his father’s best and blackest cows and one bull. By 1815, he was systematically achieving better cattle through line breeding and careful selection. Watson’s favorite bull, Old Jock, was awarded the number 1 when the herd book was founded. A large percentage of Aberdeen Angus today can be traced to Old Jock or Old Granny, Watson’s other famed foundation animal. Hugh Watson practiced the fitting and showing of his cattle more than other breeders of his day, first exhibiting in 1829. He is said to have won more than 500 prizes in the ring and did much to increase the popularity of black polled cattle throughout the British Isles.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 197