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 Justice Ray Watson, 1976, by D.J. McKenzie. |
Raymond Sanders"Ray" WatsonAM (24 December 1922 – 26 October 2010) was an Australian judge of theFamily Court. He was one of the authors of theFamily Law Act.[1] He served aboardHMAS Australia (D84) during the Second World War. In 1984 an attempt was made to kill him with a bomb.
Watson was born in Penrith,[2]Sydney, to a road contractor, and received sporadic education. He worked for the New South Wales transport department in order to put himself through high school.[3] He attendedPenrith High School,[2] and studied law at theUniversity of Sydney – although his study was interrupted by service in the navy duringWorld War II. He survived akamikaze attack onHMAS Australia (D84) in 1944.[3] Just after the war, Watson lived inAustinmer with his wife and son and ran as a Liberal candidate for Werriwa in the1946 federal election, running on a platform of housing affordability.[4][5] He gained 27,000 votes in that election.[6] Watson represented the seat of Georges River in the 1947 state election.[7] By 1949, he had had a second child and moved toKirrawee, again running for election in the1949 federal election.[6]
Watson became a barrister and advised the Commonwealth government as part of a committee on the reform of theMatrimonial Clauses Act 1956, which eventually became the Family Law Act 1975.[2] He rose to sit as a judge on the firstFamily Court in the 1970s, where he advocated the priority of children's welfare andno-fault divorce.
On 4 July 1984, a bomb attack on their home injured Watson and killed his second wife Pearl.[1] On 29 July 2015, 68-year-old Leonard John Warwick was arrested by detectives atCampbelltown, New South Wales overthe murder of Pearl Watson and three other Family Court related murders between 1980 and 1985, including the shooting death of fellow judgeDavid Opas.[8] On 23 July 2020, Warwick was found guilty of the murder of Pearl, Opas, and another bombing murder. He was also found guilty of numerous other offences including other bomb incidents.[9] On 3 September 2020, Warwick was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole[10] and died in prison on 14 February 2025.[11]
Watson was married 3 times. His first wife, Alison, with whom he had four children, died in 1968.[2] Pearl, his second was killed on On 4 July 1984 when an attempt was made tokill her husband with a bomb. His third wife, Esme, died in 2009.[2]
Watson was an avid stamp collector his entire life.[1] He attended the local Methodist Church and became a preacher there.[2]
Watson was contributing to legal books until he suffered a series ofstrokes and abrain haemorrhage in July 2003, which impacted on his mental acuity, and on 19 October 2003, he suffered head injuries in a fall and was taken toRoyal North Shore Hospital.[1]
Ray Watson died on 26 October 2010.[3]
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