Born in Wallsend, New South Wales to Welsh parents, Watkins embarked upon a career as a coal miner in the Wallsend colliery in 1881. In 1894, after several years as a trade union official, he entered politics when he successfully ran for Wallsend in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly on behalf of the Labor Party.
Upon Federation, Watkins won the seat of Newcastle in the House of Representatives for the Australian Labor Party, on which he served until his death from cancer. Although he never achieved ministerial status, Watkins had not changed his seat or party allegiance during his federal political career, and his death left Billy Hughes as the only remaining member of the First Parliament still in the House. Watkins" second son, David Oliver Watkins, stood for his seat in parliament in a 1935 by-election, which he won easily and held for 23 years.
