“Watty,” as she was affectionately known, joined the Girton staff in February 1949 as a House Mistress. In 1953 she took on the role of Bursar, and for the next twenty-three years balanced her responsibilities with those of Headmistress’s secretary, book-keeper, staff typist, and all-round factotum.
After twenty-six years of loyal service, Miss Watson retired at the end of 1975. The Girtonian of 1976 reflected on her remarkable contribution, noting:
“This loyalty and concern for Girton is what we’ll remember. The staff appreciated Watty’s friendship, her honesty in relationships—you always knew whether you’d done the right thing in Watty’s opinion—her efficiency in a complex job, her sense of humour and her habit of lightening the day with a joke she’d heard. We wish her a long and happy retirement.”
Former Headmaster, Mr Bickerdike, also paid tribute to Miss Watson’s twenty-six years of dedicated service, observing:
“She, in her unflappable manner, has kept the engines running. I am sure that she must have winced at times, although I was never aware of it, at the unorthodox way I went about things. She has proved an invaluable source of all the incredible detail which comprises the day-to-day administration of the School. I am going to miss her remarkable memory and the little anecdotes of Girton with which she would punctuate our conversations every day. Thank you, Watty, for piloting my maiden voyage so well.”
At the School’s Ninetieth Anniversary celebrations in 1974, Miss Watson reflected on her early days at Girton, just after the end of the Second World War:
“I joined the staff at Girton as a resident member 25 years ago. The School looked rather shabby, as materials and goods (and staff, both teaching and domestic) were still in short supply. The Principal, Miss S. Warren, lived in Girton House. Her study is where Miss Hardy’s is now, her bedroom was the room next to my office, and her bathroom was the present tuckshop. She was a small woman, about 5’2”, with a lovely sense of humour, known to all as ‘Bun’.”
Miss Watson recalled the camaraderie of those early years with fondness:
“In Girton House, besides 17 boarders, we had three other resident staff who lived upstairs, and me sleeping downstairs. We were all fairly young and managed to have a lot of fun together. There was a famous ‘fish’ episode, and the rat plague—never-to-be-forgotten highlights. Frew House had three resident staff and 26 boarders, and a dear old lady who came in each afternoon at 4.00pm to ‘look after the boarders’. In appearance Frew House has changed a lot. It had a wide verandah along the front and one side, with some lovely iron lace. It also had the Frew ‘ghost’, which used to walk just before Easter.”
Her memories also painted a vivid picture of the campus in the late 1940s and 1950s:
“The only classrooms in the Senior School which remain are the Art Room and Room 6. The Assembly Hall has not changed, but the Oval was just so much waste ground which grew some magnificent weeds. We had most enjoyable bonfires there on Guy Fawkes Night, with crackers and all.
“Students wore a brown tunic and blazer, as the Girton tweed had been unobtainable during the War, with brown wide-brimmed felt hats which shrank when wet, so that they looked at times like a pill on a pumpkin. On Speech Night and special occasions they all wore white frocks.”
After twenty-five years at Girton, Watty concluded her reflections with the sentiment that best captures her long service:
“I am sure you will realise from these notes that there have been many changes since I first joined the staff, some good, some which have not stood the test, but I have enjoyed these 25 years, particularly the girls I have met, for the girls make the School, and the friends I have made.”