John Watts (1715-1789)

He was born in New York City, a grandson of John Watts of Rosehill, near Edinburgh. Through his mother he was descended from several of the leading figures in Colonial New York including Matthias Nicoll, Jeremias van Rennselaer and Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt. He was a Member of the New York Assembly before being appointed President of the King's Council. If the Revolution had failed, he would have become Lieutenant-Governor of New York. He was an original subscriber to the Tontine Coffee House; co-founder and trustee of the New York Society Library; co-founder and President of the Saint Andrew's Society; and the first President of the New York City Hospital. On the outbreak of Revolution, he and his wife fled to Wales and then London. There is a monument to him at St. Olave's, Hart Street, London.

He married Anne, daughter of Stephen DeLancey. They were the parents of seven children: (1) Robert, married Lady Mary Alexander, daughter of Lord Stirling (2) Anne, married Archibald Kennedy, 11th Earl of Cassilis (3) Susanna, married Col. Phillip Kearney (4) John Watts, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, married his cousin Jane DeLancey (5) Mary, married Sir John Johnson, 2nd Bt., of Montreal (6) Margaret, married Col. Robert William Leake, son of the British Commissary-General of North America (7) Stephen, Captain in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, married Sarah Nugent.