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 |