William Watson was already established as a merchant when admitted to the freedom of York during the year 1533-4. After his term as chamberlain he was fined and imprisoned for non-payment of arrears due from his recent office. He lived in the parish of St. Michael, Ousebridge End, where in 1546 and 1547 he was assessed for subsidy on goods worth £50 and 100 marks respectively. In a chancery suit over a deal in lead brought against him by a London goldsmith between 1544 and 1558 he was described as ‘a man of much wealth and substance and greatly borne and maintained, friended and allied’ in York.
When elected to the Parliament of March 1553 Watson and William Holme were given lengthy instructions from the corporation on such matters of local concern as the conditions for the sale of wool, cloth and leather. On their return they recommended an approach to the Duke of Northumberland for a reduction in the city’s liability for tax, a subject which was to recur on both his subsequent elections. A ‘favourer’ of the Anglican settlement, he died between 18 Oct. and 19 Nov. 1568, the dates of the making and proving of his will.