Ray Watson (judge)

Watson was born in Penrith, 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. He attended Penrith High School,{{cite journal|last1=Baker|first1=E. R.|title=Tribute to Ray Watson: Raymond Sanders Watson AM, QC, BA LLB (24 December 1922 - 26 October 2010)|journal=Family Law Review|date=December 2011|volume=2|issue=1|pages=4–5|issn=1837-8757}} and studied law at the University of Sydney – although his study was interrupted by service in the navy during World War II. He survived a kamikaze attack on {{HMAS|Australia|D84}} in 1944.{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/judge-sought-informality-in-court-with-nofault-divorce-20101031-178v1.html |last=Olding|first=Rachel |title=Judge sought informality in court with no-fault divorce |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=1 November 2010 |accessdate=20 March 2013}} Just after the war, Watson lived in Austinmer with his wife and son and ran as a Liberal candidate for Werriwa in the 1946 federal election, running on a platform of housing affordability.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117908250 |title=Werriwa Electorate |newspaper=Nepean Times |volume=64 |issue=4339 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 September 1946 |accessdate=7 April 2017 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article111259845 |title=Liberal Candidate at Austinmer |newspaper=The Picton Post |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 August 1946 |accessdate=7 April 2017 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} He gained 27,000 votes in that election.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76283743 |title=LIVERPOOL LIBERALS |newspaper=The Biz |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=19 May 1949 |accessdate=7 April 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} Watson represented the seat of Georges River in the 1947 state election.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article233609429 |title=LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA. |newspaper=The St George Call |volume=XLIII |issue=26 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 June 1947 |accessdate=7 April 2017 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} By 1949, he had had a second child and moved to Kirrawee, again running for election in the 1949 federal election.

Watson became a barrister and advised the Commonwealth government as part of a committee on the reform of the Matrimonial Clauses Act 1956, which eventually became the Family Law Act 1975. He rose to sit as a judge on the first Family Court in the 1970s, where he advocated the priority of children's welfare and no-fault divorce.

On 4 July 1984, a bomb attack on their home injured Watson and killed his second wife Pearl. On 29 July 2015, 68-year-old Leonard John Warwick was arrested by detectives at Campbelltown, New South Wales over the murder of Pearl Watson and three other Family Court related murders between 1980 and 1985, including the shooting death of fellow judge David Opas.{{cite news |title=Man arrested over Sydney family law court bombings, murders in 1980s |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-29/man-arrested-over-sydney-family-law-court-bombings-murders/6656690 |accessdate=29 July 2015 |work=ABC News (Australia) |date=29 July 2015 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}} 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.{{cite news |title=Leonard Warwick Family Court bomber found guilty of murdering three people in 1980s |last=McKinnell |first=Jamie |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-23/leonard-warwick-family-court-bomber-found-guilty/12483286 |accessdate=23 July 2020 |work=ABC News |date=23 July 2020 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |language=en-AU}} On 3 September 2020, Warwick was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole{{Cite web|date=2020-09-03 |title=Family Court bomber destined to die in jail for 'calculated, violent' murders |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-03/family-court-bomber-leonard-warwick-jailed-for-life/12624080|access-date=2020-09-03|website=www.abc.net.au |language=en-AU}} and died in prison on 14 February 2025.{{cite news |author=Al-Khouri, Chantelle |title=Sydney's Family Court bomber dies while serving life in jail |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-14/nsw-sydney-family-court-bomber-leonard-john-warwick-dead/104937958 |access-date=14 February 2025 |work=ABC News (Australia) |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=14 February 2025 |language=en-AU}}

Watson was married 3 times. His first wife, Alison, with whom he had four children, died in 1968. Pearl, his second was killed on On 4 July 1984 when an attempt was made to kill her husband with a bomb. His third wife, Esme, died in 2009.

Watson was an avid stamp collector his entire life. He attended the local Methodist Church and became a preacher there.

Watson was contributing to legal books until he suffered a series of strokes and a brain 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 to Royal North Shore Hospital.{{cite web |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/14/1094927583976.html |title=The frail judge, his stamps and the carer who tried to sell them |last=Gibbs|first=Stephen |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 September 2004 |accessdate=20 March 2013}}

Ray Watson died on 26 October 2010.

• {{Citation | author1=Toose, Paul Burcher | author2=Benjafield, David Gilbert | author3=Watson, Ray | title=Australian divorce law and practice | date=1968 | publisher=Law Book Co | isbn=978-0-455-14080-3 }}
• {{Citation | author1=Watson, Ray | author2=Purnell, Howard | title=Criminal law in New South Wales. Volume 1 | date=1971 | publisher=Law Book Co | isbn=978-0-455-16720-6 }}
• {{Citation | author1=Watson, Ray | author2=Bartley, Reg | title=Criminal law in New South Wales. Volume 2 | date=1978 | publisher=Law Book Co | isbn=978-0-455-19300-7 }}

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Category:1922 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:Members of the Order of Australia

Category:Judges of the Family Court of Australia

Category:University of Sydney alumni

Category:Sydney Law School alumni

Category:Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II