# Herbert Watney > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herbert_Watney > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Herbert_Watney.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Watney > Source revision: 1345281739 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use British English|date=February 2020}} '''Herbert Watney''' (1843–1932) of Buckhold, [Pangbourne](/source/Pangbourne), Berkshire (now [St. Andrew's School](/source/St_Andrew's_School%2C_Pangbourne)) was a nineteenth century London physician, [landowner](/source/landowner) and [philanthropist](/source/Philanthropy), and a strong supporter of Christian missions. ==Early life== Herbert Watney was born on 15 December 1843 at [Wandsworth](/source/Wandsworth), SurreyFreedom admissions papers, 1681–1930. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. COL/CHD/FR/02. the son of [James Watney](/source/James_Watney) of Haling Park, [Croydon](/source/Croydon), Surrey. He was educated at [Rugby](/source/Rugby_School) and [St. John's College, Cambridge](/source/St._John's_College%2C_Cambridge). As an undergraduate, he was a rowing [blue](/source/Blue_(university_sport)) and rowed three times for [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University), in the losing crews of [1865](/source/The_Boat_Race_1865), [1866](/source/The_Boat_Race_1866) and [1867](/source/The_Boat_Race_1867),{{cite web|url=http://ebooks.cambridge.org/chapter.jsf?bid=CBO9780511692871&cid=CBO9780511692871A028|website=ebooks.cambridge.org|title=University Oars by John Edward Morgan|accessdate=19 November 2017}}{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} and won the Colquhoun Sculls Cup. He took his BA is 1866 and MA in 1869.Venn, J. A., comp.. Alumni Cantabrigienses. London, England: Cambridge University Press, 1922–1954. He went on to [St George’s Hospital](/source/St_George%E2%80%99s_Hospital), London where he graduated in 1870, also studying medicine at [University College](/source/University_College_London), at Jena and at Würzburg. He qualified as MRCS in 1876. ==Professional life== After holding the customary resident appointments at [St George's Hospital](/source/St_George's_Hospital), London he was made Senior Assistant Physician and joint lecturer on physiology from 1881 to 1883. He joined the [Physiological Society](/source/Physiological_Society) in 1881: for a period he was engaged in research on the [thymus](/source/thymus) with [Burdon Sanderson](/source/Burdon_Sanderson) at [University College London](/source/University_College_London) and Klein at the [Brown Institute](/source/Brown_Institute).W. J. O'Connor: Founders of British Physiology: A Biographical Dictionary, 1820–1885. Manchester University Press 1988 However, shortly after his election as an F.R.C.P. in 1883 and after acting as an Examiner in physiology for the college and for [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge), he retired from his professional career.Royal College of Physicians: Lives of the Fellows. http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/4649 He was [Master of the Mercers' Company](/source/Master_of_the_Mercers'_Company) in 1915. After retiring as a physician he devoted himself for the remainder of his long life to his estate at Buckhold in [Berkshire](/source/Berkshire), where he became known as an expert on afforestation and pedigree cattle and for his generosity in installing a water supply for neighbouring villages. He was particularly known for his pedigree [Jersey](/source/Jersey_Cattle) herd from which be won numerous gold medals for the butter content of the milk.Jersey Cattle Worldwide Watney, Dr. H.: The Jersey Cow. Live Stock Journal. 1903. He took over the running of the [Bradfield](/source/Bradfield%2C_Berkshire) village school in the 1880s purchasing the building in 1884. Although this was a board school it was always known as Dr Watney's School.Kelly's Directory of Berks, Bucks & Oxon 1911 p.50 He also catered for the villagers' recreational needs by laying out a cricket pitch with a fine brick pavilion. While working at [St George's Hospital](/source/St_George's_Hospital) he lived in [Wilton Crescent](/source/Wilton_Crescent). He built the family mansion at Buckhold near [Pangbourne](/source/Pangbourne) in Berkshire in 1885. Having acquired the Quinta Magnolia estate (later the British Country Club and now a public park) in [Madeira](/source/Madeira) in 1895, he spent much of the winter there, developing the gardens and filling them with a variety of exotic plants.[http://www.essential-madeira.com/en/index.php/featured-articles/1176-a-place-with-history "A place with history", ''Essential Madeira'', issue No. 77 (December 2019/January 2020)]. Retrieved 24 March 2021. ==Philanthropic activities== Watney met [William S. Rainsford](/source/William_S._Rainsford) working in a Mission in the East End of London in 1868, and as a result they arranged the emigration of 800 people to Canada. Together they crossed Canada with sparse equipment.W S Rainsford "The Story of a Varied Life" (1922) Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Page & Company Herbert Watney was an ardent churchman, a supporter of missions overseas and, although a member of the [Watney family](/source/Watney_family) of brewers, was a strict [teetotaller](/source/teetotaller). His four youngest children were Christian Missionaries in China, Japan and [Northern Rhodesia](/source/Northern_Rhodesia) respectively, three of them following in their father's footsteps as doctors. He made an epic journey overland in 1913/14 to visit the three in China and Japan. He accumulated a large collection of rare Bibles. ==Family== Watney married Sarah Louisa Rainsford, daughter of Rev. Marcus Rainsford of Belgrave Chapel, on 22 January 1872 at All Saints Church, [Wandsworth](/source/Wandsworth), Surrey.Church of England Parish Registers. London Metropolitan Archives, London. She was the sister of his friend [William S. Rainsford](/source/William_S._Rainsford). They had two sons and six daughters (one of whom died as a child). Four of his children were missionaries. *'''May Evelyn Watney''' (1873–1953) never married but after her mother's death in 1896 helped bring up her younger siblings and cared for her father till his death. *'''Winifred Eva Watney''' (1879–1927) also never married and assisted May in caring for the family, until she died in [Northern Rhodesia](/source/Northern_Rhodesia) while visiting her brother Martyn. *'''Dora Muriel Watney''' (1882–1975) was a doctor trained at the [London School of Medicine for Women](/source/London_School_of_Medicine_for_Women). First on her own from about 1910 and later with her husband, Hammie (Hamlet George) Thompson, she was a missionary in Western China. *'''Lilian Enid Watney''' (1883–1933) was also trained at the [London School of Medicine for Women](/source/London_School_of_Medicine_for_Women) and was a missionary Doctor with [China Inland Mission](/source/China_Inland_Mission) in China. *'''Gwendoline Rose Watney''' (1885–1976), independently with YWCA and later with her husband, [Joseph Gurney Barclay](/source/Joseph_Gurney_Barclay_(missionary)), was a missionary in Kjimachi, Tokyo, Japan. *'''Martyn Herbert Watney''' (1887–1972) was a [South Africa General Mission](/source/South_Africa_General_Mission) medical missionary who ran a mission at ‘Lukuti’ Khaba Hill, Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia (1920–1930). thumb|Herbert Watney's grave in Stanford Dingley, Berkshire Sarah died in 1896 and Watney died on 28 May 1932Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England Crown copyright. and is buried in [Stanford Dingley](/source/Stanford_Dingley), Berkshire where there is a marble grave which is also a memorial to other members of the family. ==See also== *[Master of the Mercers' Company](/source/Master_of_the_Mercers'_Company) *[Watneys Red Barrel](/source/Watneys_Red_Barrel) ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Watney, James}} Category:1843 births Category:1932 deaths Category:British philanthropists Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:People educated at Rugby School Herbert --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Herbert Watney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Watney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Watney?action=history)). 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