John Watson was born in Deptford in 1816. According to his diary he entered the service of the London & Greenwich Railway Company (L&GRC) in March 1835 and was employed as a police constable in June 1835. According to L&GRC board records he was discharged 24 August 1838 and employed as a fireman 19 March 1839. 1841 census records describe him as an ‘engineer ‘and again as an ‘Engine Driver’ in 1851.

He was married to Maria Lewis in Greenwich Old church in 1836, they had eight children; Maria (1816-1819), Thomas Charles (1836-1838), John Edward (1837-1838), Maria Eliza (1838-?), Sarah Lewis (1841-?), Emma (1843-?), Mary Ann Amelia (1844-?), George Edward (1847-1915) and John Robert (1854).

The 1861 census describes him as an Inn Keeper of the Angel Inn, Harbour Quay, Harwich. He died in Tendring, Essex aged 46.