Name (FAMILY NAME, Other Names)	WATTS,  Gordon Stanley   NB:  There is at least one other local person with exactly the same name  ie. “Gordon Stanley Watts”.
Date of Birth	28 July 1895
Place of Birth	Balaklava South Australia
Date of Death	8 April 1968
Place of Death	Blair Athol
Place of Burial	Centennial Park cemetery 10 April 1968
Arrived in South Australia (date/ship etc.)
Addresses/Dates  in Prospect Council Area	233 Prospect Road, Prospect
Addresses/Dates outside Prospect Council Area	Florence St. Balaklava (1901) The Crescent, Blair Athol
Names of houses (if any)
Parents - names; DOBs etc (if known)	Father: Joseph WATTS  (occ Baker) Died 9 Sept 1933 Mother: Ellenor Emma MARRIOTT (aka Elleanor,Ellen, Emma) Died 27 Oct 1914 Married 19 April 1880 residence of Oliver Marriott. Address Florence St. Balaklava (1901)   Children - 5 sons, 7 daughters
Spouse(s) - including maiden name; DOBs etc. (if known)	Rita Irene May AITKEN Born 1901 Launceston, Tasmania Died April 1968, buried Centennial Park Cem 11 May 1968
Date(s) of Marriage(s)	12 Jan 1924
Place(s) of Marriage(s)	Stow Memorial Church Adelaide, South Australia
Children - names and dates of birth/death if known
Education	Attended Pt Pirie West School 7 May 1901
Occupation(s)	Railway porter SAR (at WW1 embarkation) Taxi driver - He had many altercations with authorities and represented himself successfully many times.
Interests/Activities	Captain of the Fleet of Popeye boats. The boats were named after the cartoon character which was so popular at that time.
Religion/Churches	Church of England
Local Government experience (if any)
Notes (points of interest etc.)	Served in WW1 – Embarked 20 October 1914 aged 19 on Ascanius.  Unit 10th Aust. Infantry Battalion .  Ret’d 24 June 1916. Next of kin listed as brother Mark Ernest Watts. Apparently his medals were offered un-successfully for sale in 2015 whereabouts now unknown.   In 1935 Gordon Stanley Watts had Harold Louder build him a wooden boat holding 20 passengers which he would take for trips on the River Torrens to and from the Zoo. He named it POPEYE. It proved so popular in 1939 he purchased a second boat which had run cruises at Glenelg. It was named Miss Centenary but he renamed it Popeye II because people would wait to go on the one called Popeye. Gordon would ask if any child had a birthday and they would be invited up to steer the boat.   Eventually there were 5 Popeye boats and they were also used for weddings and children’s parties and by visiting celebrities. And became a royal barge for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and later in 1977 for Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Keith Altmann owned a Service Station on the corner of Prospect Road and Charles Street  where Gordon stopped to buy petrol for Popeye and in 1962, when Gordon retired, Keith and his wife bought the fleet. In 1982 the wooden boats were replaced with new fibreglass boats.   Friday 24 Nov 1945: Gordon Stanley Watts. 50. of Prospect road. Prospect. was walking along a footpath in Hindley street, City, when part of an electric sign fell on his head. He was subsequently detained at the Royal Adelaide Hospital suffering from a cut on the head and shock. .   Advertiser 6 April 1953: An Italian migrant died after a collision with Popeye. The owner-skipper of Popeye 5, Gordon Stanley Watts, of Prospect road, Prospect, said that when the launch was returning from the Zoo he saw the three men sitting in a boat on the north side of the river, near the Police Station.  'When we got nearer they cut across our bow,' he added.  'We hit the boat which capsized, throwing the men into the water. One of them started swimming towards the north bank, and while I was pulling another out of the water I saw the third man disappear.'
Sources of information	Boomer Advertiser 6 Jul 2020, SAGHS BMD resources, Trove. Wikipedia.
Principal Researcher	Lesley Attema