In memoriam: Revd William (‘Billy’) Lysander Rowan Watson, MA (4 March 1926 - 28 August 2025)

It is with deep sadness that the Master and Fellows of St Peter’s College share the news that our Emeritus Fellow, The Reverend William (‘Billy’) Lysander Rowan Watson, has died aged 99 on 28 August 2025.  Our thoughts are with Billy’s wife, Jill, his children, Hannah and Rowan, and their families.

Billy was born in 1926 in Drogheda in the then Irish Free State. He studied History at Trinity College Dublin, then studied at Trinity’s Divinity School. He became Deacon in 1949 and was ordained Priest in 1951. He joined Ridley Hall, Cambridge in 1952 as Tutor in Church History, where he worked until his appointment at St Peter’s.

In 1957, Billy joined what was then St Peter’s Hall as Chaplain and Lecturer, and in 1959 he was elected to a full Tutorial Fellowship. Billy’s connection to our history reached back to its very beginnings. He joined St Peter’s under the Mastership of Julian Thornton-Duesbery, and he met and knew every Master of St Peter’s, including our founding Master, Christopher Chavasse. He served on the first official Governing Body of St Peter’s when it achieved college status in 1961, and was Tutorial Fellow and Chaplain when women were first admitted in 1979. In addition to his role as Chaplain and Tutor, he served in various College Officer roles, including Dean of Degrees, Senior Tutor and Vice-Master. He retired in 1993 and was thereafter duly elected Emeritus Fellow. Through the many years following his retirement, Billy remained a vital member of the College community, being consulted by successive Masters on matters of College history. Until his health declined in more recent years, he remained a faithful supporter of our student musicians, visiting weekly to hear the St Peter’s College Music Society lunchtime recitals.

Upon his retirement, Billy shared his view of St Peter’s:

‘St Peter’s has always been about people developing their minds and spirits. Buildings and money and success in the eyes of others come second to humanity and intellect – and a humanity which respects religious opinions of all kinds while refusing knowingly to be controlled by dogmas of any kind – religious, political, moral, economic […] I have been very privileged to watch St Peter’s joining enthusiastically in the pursuit of excellence and not losing its soul or its humanity in the endeavour.’

The date of our College memorial service for Billy will be announced in due course, and we hope many alumni, friends and former colleagues will be able to join us for that as we celebrate Billy’s life and impact on the life and community of St Peter’s College.

With thanks to Eric Southworth for providing some key biographical details for this tribute.

Alumni memories

'Billy was so kind to me when I was finding the course and social life quite difficult in my first term. He knew everyone by name and would stop and chat frequently. Indeed he came to my 21st birthday party and was secretly recorded on my new tape recorder! I remember him with great affection. A true Christian gentleman.' - Derek Clarke (Physics, 1959)

'I have a wonderful memory of Billy over my three years at St Peter's. He was a good friend and wise pastor, and I remember many occasions when I took part in services in the Chapel. Above all, I value a kind postcard that I still have, when having failed my prelims and then passed the resit, he wrote, "it would have been a real shame to have lost our other Iona man" (John Harvey (History, 1958) and I were and are still involved with the Iona Community) "but St Columba did his bit!" Billy for me epitomised the caring nature of St Peter's and I seem to remember, for all he was then a bachelor, he produced some lovely cream teas for those of us fortunate to have been invited to them!' - Iain Whyte (History, 1960)

With that delightful soft Irish accent, Billy was so open to all, humble, welcoming. He had that rare ability to really listen. I so much valued the Sunday evenings after dinner when we could gather in his rooms for friendship and to discuss, no topic being forbidden. It was in St Peter’s during my geography studies that I seriously considered offering myself for ordination. Talking with Billy enabled me to clarify my thinking, and subsequently being welcomed back into St Peter’s to continue my theological studies which had begun elsewhere only served to confirm my appreciation of, and gratitude for, his counsel. Once during his retirement I met up with him in College and we shared fish and chips together in Hall. I shall never forget him and will always tell others of his Christian example. - Canon John Brown (Geography, 1961 and Theology, 1965)

'Just the most approachable person and sage who became a lasting memory for me, at the tender age of 19 in the mid sixties, with change all around me. Pastoral care personified. R.I.P.' - Prof Brian Collins (Physics, 1964)

'Billy rescued me when I was unsuccessful at my first choice college. Then and many times subsequently he was a generous encourager, nudging me insightfully in Biblical Studies, as Chapel Clerk, and with career possibilities. He always seemed to have time for people: I once met him by chance in the Ashmolean and enjoyed a very lengthy catch-up.' - George Brooke (Theology, 1970)

'The characteristic "Ooh!" The Chaplain's Cyprus Sherry on Sundays... but also a very subtly administered and effective rebuke after an inappropriate comment during said sherry. He rests in peace - may he rise in glory.' Colin Penfold (Theology, 1971)

'I remember Billy as Chaplain from regular Sunday Evensongs and occasional morning services. But my favourite memories are from about 10 or 15 years after graduation, when I was having my first nostalgic visit to Oxford and met him by chance in the Lodge. "Oh, hello!" I said politely, hardly expecting him to remember a not particularly outstanding member of the Choir from so long before! But he did, and invited me to tea in his room ("Come in 20 minutes so I can go out and buy some cakes!"), and we had a lengthy and interesting chat that afternoon! Since then, of course, I have enjoyed meeting him a number of times on return visits! May he rest in peace and rise in glory!' - Christopher Wain (History, 1971)

'I was lucky enough to come to St Peter's as Organ Scholar, so I had plenty of contact with Billy Watson through my (very pleasant) duties playing the organ and conducting the Chapel Choir. Billy was always encouraging and never interfered with the music. Richard Millward and Nicholas Riddle were my contemporaries, and kindly helped out with the somewhat onerous duty of playing for early morning services - late nights begat late mornings, but we hardly ever let him down. I remember fondly the weekly tradition of joining him with Hannah and Rowan for breakfast after the early Sunday morning Communion service, which was a great treat. The last time I saw him was a very special day in 1980, a couple of years after I had gone down, when Anne Molyneux became my wife. Billy kindly agreed to officiate at the service, and did us proud. He was a kind and gentle man - may he rest in peace.' - David Andrew (Music, 1975)

'An anecdote: For two terms, I had rooms opposite Billy's. Passing through the Lodge late one evening I was convinced I'd seen a ghost pass in front of me and up the stairs to the library. This shook me up a bit and, despite the hour, I knocked on Billy's door and explained what had happened. He took me into his room and carefully and compassionately explained why this was not possible. He was polite enough not to mention the fact I'd self-evidently spent far too long in the pub beforehand and was somewhat "under the weather". He never mentioned it again.' - Nigel Tipple (PPE, 1975)

'Billy had the twin gifts of allowing ambiguity and probing undergraduate certainty. Gifts used gently and affably. Wise, and loving a little gossip, encountering Billy was always enriching.' - Geoffrey Riba-Thompson (English, 1977)

'I came alone to St Peter’s from New Zealand, on the other side of the world. Billy made me so welcome: a combination of care and deep thoughtfulness which went the extra mile to someone so far from home. Billy was a gentle, progressive scholar and an utterly consistent chaplain. The ‘Mr Chips’ of St Peter’s in some ways. The grain ran true from heart to outward sensitivity. He was my best tutor and mentor. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.' - David Moxon (Theology, 1978)

'I was fortunate to know Billy through my attendance at College Chapel, either in the morning or midweek and was then privileged that he conducted my wedding to Sarah (St Hildas') in 1984 at the College Chapel. His warmth and willingness to spend time listening to problems will long stay in the memory. He summed up my time at SPC - warmth and friendliness - and why throughout my teaching career, I have encouraged students to apply to the College.' - Nicholas Fellows (History, 1979)

'Billy “poached” me from Keble with a Collinson Exhibition and I’m so glad he saw something in me and gave me the chance to come to SPC! He had a wonderful sense of humour, and was a lovely kind man. His tutorials were always an interesting and stimulating experience, even when they weren’t always on topic!' - Laurence Baldwin (Theology, 1980)

'Billy interviewed all the Jurisprudence candidates alongside Peter Hayward, then our Jurisprudence tutor. He interviewed me (kindly, but searchingly). Years later (in 2011) I bumped into him on Oxford train station and he immediately recognised me. We chatted about this and that, and I asked why he interviewed the Jurisprudence candidates. He responded that Mr Hayward thought, because Billy was Chaplain, he would have some supernatural insight into the moral fibre of interviewees (a notion Billy told me he secretly found utterly baffling). He then asked me where I was going. The answer was: to the second most important interview in my life, for appointment to Queen’s Counsel (as it then was). It was, as we both recognised, an extraordinary coincidence that we should meet at these ends of my career journey, and such a privilege that someone so critical to the start of the journey should still be part of it 21 years later.' - John Vater KC (Jurisprudence, 1990)

Memories from friends and colleagues

'Billy was my Godfather. My father, Charles Caine, was a Fellow and Trustee of St Peter's, and when I was born in 1960, my parents were good friends with Billy. Subsequently, we all lived in Eynsham, not far from Billy and Jill. Whilst my own life took me away from Oxfordshire and we lost touch, when my father died in 2010, Billy was very kind to me and invited me to a Guest Night Formal Dinner in College. I could see how compassionate and caring he was and how he must have been a great support to many students in his pastoral role. After a good, long, well-lived life, may he now rest in peace. My condolences to all who knew and loved him.' - Rachel Caine (family friend)

'He was like a second father to me and curiously, their birthdays coincided, although Billy was two years older, so I never forgot to send him a card. When I was a nervous graduate student at St John's I would visit him weekly for coffee after a particularly difficult seminar at Nuffield next door. We had met by accident, but soon became the best of friends. It turned out that I could help him with his family finances (I had been a tax inspector) and so I became a friend of the family. Although he was the most generous, kind and gentle man, I will remember him best for his irrepressible sense of fun and mischief. Once when we were having tea, my glass cup exploded, covering me in hot liquid. I had to take my trousers off to dry, and he thought the incident hilarious. In later years, I would accompany him to the Thursday lunchtime concerts every week, after which we would eat at the Angrid Thai cafe. He will be sorely missed by so many loving people.' - Mark Robson (family friend)

'Billy was well known to my relatives in Ireland. My grandmother regarded him as a saintly man who lived the chaplain's life with such modesty and adaptability that when without collar people might not have instantly recognized him as a cleric. He was much more of a life coach, in a quiet, unassuming way. He will be well remembered in Trinity College Dublin, too. It is a blessing that we had Billy for such a good and long life, and he brought blessings everywhere he passed. RIP and much missed.' - Gavin Duffy (family friend)

'When I arrived at St Peter's in 2002, Billy was one of the first Fellows I met in the Senior Common Room and quickly became a source of sound advice as well as having a vast institutional memory which I called upon regularly; I will be forever grateful for his warmth, kindness and friendship. His love for St Peter's ran deep and he gave the College such wonderful service over many years.' - Sean Rainey (former colleague, Development Office)

'Billy and I sat together at lunch regularly until the last few years, when he could no longer make it to College. He was a wonderful person, and his tolerance and humanity played a major role in turning St Peter's from a Permanent Private Hall into the modern College it is today. College is lucky to have had him as part of our community.' - Prof Tom Adcock (Tutor and Fellow in Engineering Science)