Gradually my Father's wish to return home grew, his Mother was well on in the seventies and he felt that if he was to see her again he must hasten home. He also longed to re-enter the fuller life of his Church and to see his many old friends. So in 1889 after much thought on the subject he made known his intention to leave Australia for England. This decision met with a storm of protest, not only from the members of his own churches; it was equally distasteful to the other Methodists in the city. Writing to his Mother he said "Our people here are sadly annoyed and troubled at the thought of my leaving them and would do almost anything to keep me. They would like me to go home next year on a visit, to stay nine months there and return. The Lord, in whom I trust, will direct my path. What I desire most is to see you once more and if the Lord spare you that will, I trust, be brought about."

It was thought by many that he was doing wrong in coming to such a decision and that his leaving Adelaide would be little short of a disaster to the cause of Methodist Union in which he had been such an ardent worker. In my Father's opinion the time for union was almost at hand, and only a short time would elapse before it was an accomplished fact. He had used his not inconsiderable powers of argument and persuasion to good effect and events proved him right in his supposition. Less than two years after his leaving Australia the Methodist Churches in the Colony became one great Methodist Church.

It was a great wrench to leave so many true and loyal friends; to my Mother the trial was severe, as it meant separation from her only sister with whom she had had close association for the six years of their stay in Adelaide, but she was one at heart with my Father in his wish to return to England.

Rev. James Travis was the superintendent Minister of Chester 1st circuit and hearing that my Father was on the point of leaving Adelaide he advised the circuit to send an invitation to him to be their minister in his stead. This they did and my Father cabled his acceptance of the call.

In April 1889 we left Adelaide for England, a great crowd of friends coming down to the quay to bid us "God Speed" on our long voyage. Our journey was very calm, and beautiful, quite undisturbed by any storm; in that respect very different from the stormy weather experienced when on the way to Africa. The incidents of the voyage were much like the incidents of all long voyages. There were fancy dress balls, cricket matches, tennis tournaments, mock trials and life went along with a merry swing. There was much innocent amusement and also a great deal of a questionable character. In spite of the external racket it was to my Mother and Father a time of quiet and refreshment, though even here the habits of their lives were maintained and much unobtrusive service was rendered. Anxious mothers came to one who never failed in her practical sympathy; the doctor of the ship grew to look upon her as his most reliable ally. Preaching was always a keen delight to my Father; repeated requests came from all classes of the ship for his services and he had the pleasure of conducting some very fine meetings. The six weeks soon slipped away and then came the joy of once more standing on English soil. It was a moment full of mingled feelings; he had been in countries across the sea for over ten years and there had been many changes in the time.

He faced his new tasks with courage and quiet confidence but the experiences of the years had wrought many things in him. His love for his Church had become greater, but - perhaps therefore - he was more conscious of her failings. At times there was, and this feeling remained to the end of his life, a slight feeling of irritation at the slow march of progress, at the lack of broadness of outlook, and a noble contempt of our narrow sectional divisions. He was a bigger man than the man of ten years ago, coming back with a soul burning with zeal for his Master and eager for service. The change from the immature and free colony of South Australia to the city of Chester was great. He came from a people inured to change and rooted in no particular rules of life, to a community whose roots went down deep into the past and to whom yesterday was as much or more than tomorrow. He had a nature, however, quick to adapt itself to new conditions, able to turn to advantage all that came into his life.

We arrived in England in 1889 right in the midst of what was, or so it seemed to us, the most glorious Spring England has ever known! To one of the small company the fields of buttercups and daisies, the hedgerows white with hawthorn, were a vision of beauty which has never passed away; on everything was cast "the light that never was on sea or land." The welcome of kindly friends soon made us feel that we had indeed come "Home". Then followed a pleasant time of wandering to and fro amongst old and new friends and places. A record of these visits would be of little interest to the reader, everywhere there was the same kind and cordial welcome.

In July our period of homelessness came to an end and we settled in Chester. My Father came to a live and prosperous church, housed in a good building and ready for the leadership which he was so able to give. He had the privilege of following one of the stalwarts of the Connexion, the Rev. James Travis, whose work in Chester remains to this day; the power of his personality still lives in the lives of many to whom he was made a blessing. To follow such a man worthily was no mean task, but my Father had as his officials men of no little ability; such men as John Jones, Beresford and George Adams, William Moore, John and William Vernon, Henry Lanceley and a host of others. The congregations at George Street, the principal church of the circuit, were good. 600 to 800 people were present every Sunday night, a large proportion of these being young men and women. There were several class meetings which met regularly and had good attendance. These classes supplied and supplied well the needs of the middle aged and older members of the church, but did not attach to themselves the young people in the church. This fact caused him some concern and he therefore hailed with delight the coming of the great Christian Endeavour Movement. With his usual quickness to see possibilities which lie both in men and movements, he soon became one of the most earnest advocates of Christian Endeavourism which the Primitive Methodist Church has possessed. At first his voice was like a voice crying in the wilderness. The movement was regarded with grave misgivings by many and was said to be an attempt to do away with the old Methodist Class Meeting. He became known as an expert in the matter and spent much time and energy in all parts of the Connexion in putting forward the claims of the Christian Endeavour Society and was the actual organiser of many such societies.

In all these activities his own young people received first attention, and a society was formed at George Street Church. He was its President during the whole of his stay in Chester; a great number remember his strong and gracious leadership of that meeting. Not that this statement means that he was in the position of leader at many of the meetings. He not only insisted on merely taking his share along with others of such appointments, but that the young members should shoulder their own responsibilities. In this way he helped to create a band of robust Christian workers which greatly strengthened and enriched the Church. Nevertheless these same young men and women would have confessed with eagerness that he was the powerful and yet unobtrusive force that influenced all the workers in that Society, and bound its members together in bonds of love and service. He was beloved by the young because he never grew old in spirit but had the happy knack, possessed by so few, of remembering the thoughts and aspirations of his own youth; they felt that he was not only showing a kindly interest in all that concerned them, but feeling it, a difference not always clearly understood by workers among young folks. The society grew, both in numbers and spiritual power, ere long being recognised as one of the strongest agencies of the Church.

He was fortunate in having colleagues who nobly seconded him in all his efforts, in the early part of his ministry in Chester by Revs. William Witham and Wilson Eccles, and later, the Rev. Philip Gibbon, with all of whom he had the happiest relationships. The Rev. Wilson Eccles was a young man of worth and ability who threw himself with zeal and enthusiasm into the work of the circuit. He has many happy memories of his work in conjunction with my Father, and in another part of the book gives in an able way a record of them and other interesting matters.

The wider interests of his Church also made their claim upon my Father, and though he did not seek office, when called to it by the wish of his brethren he gave whole hearted devotion to the tasks which devolved upon him. In 1893 he became the secretary of the Itinerant Preachers' Friendly Society. He took up the office with misgivings and although he faithfully discharged all its duties, he was never happy in it and with characteristic honesty soon acknowledged that he was "the square peg in the round hole". After a year of hard labour he relinquished the office with a sigh of relief into hands which were more fitted for it. Other work more to his liking and in which his natural gifts could shine was pressed upon him and at the Conference of 1892 held in Norwich, he was elected to the Vice Principalship of the Manchester College for the training of students for the ministry of the Primitive Methodist Church. Here he was to find a congenial sphere of labour, a work for which, in the opinion of his friends, he was eminently fitted.

A writer in the "Christian Age" of 1902 says, "Having spent ten years in the British Colonies he returned to the Homeland. Not infrequently it is found that long continued absence presents difficulties insurmountable in the recovery of power once held. It is significant of Dr Watson's strength of character that almost on the instant he resumed his old-time position. The secret probably lies in the fact that his studies had been vigorously prosecuted in those far-off lands." He left no stone unturned in order to equip himself still more fully for the work on which he was about to enter. One aid of which he took advantage was to attend the Oxford Summer School of Theology with the intention of not only benefiting by the lectures but of gaining general knowledge which would be helpful to him in the sympathetic guidance which he was so desirous of giving the young men who were to come under his care.

His early habits of close and diligent study had been maintained to the full; his expenditure on books had always been heavy; often in the home circle he was teased about his "luxurious" tastes in this respect. Consequently he had kept abreast of the times and was familiar with new thought and had a truly virile mind. The friendships made in the Chester circuit had been true and deep; there was great regret shown both by minister and people at the separation which had to take place.

The only serious loss the four years had brought in their train had been the death of his mother who had kept her place in his heart and life. Her mind remained keen and alert right up to the end and it was beautiful to see the tender relationship which existed between mother and son.

On the whole this term of service had been one of peaceful, strenuous labour, and much valuable work had been done.