Background
He was born in Bristol into a family of Methodists, and showed precocious talents, giving his first lecture at the age of 14.
He was born in Bristol into a family of Methodists, and showed precocious talents, giving his first lecture at the age of 14.
Through this work the two brothers came into contact with freethinkers including Charles Southwell and Charles Bradlaugh. John Watts became an active proselytiser for secularism, and in 1863 was appointed editor of the National Reformer, a radical periodical founded by Bradlaugh, with Charles as assistant editors In 1864 the brothers formed a publishing business, Watts & Company
John Watts died from tuberculosis at the age of 32.
In 1876, he was appointed full-time editor and publisher of the National Reformer.
He also wrote and published a wide range of pamphlets on secularism and republicanism, and wrote the first systematic history of freethought, eventually published in book form as Freethought: its Rise, Progress and Triumph. The pamphlet was published for the first time in Britain by Watts" publishing company, with an introduction by Bradlaugh and Annie Besant, and Watts, Bradlaugh and Besant were prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Acting.
Watts dissociated himself from Bradlaugh and pleaded guilty, claiming that he had not read the document. In 1882, he travelled for the first time to the United States to lecture, and also visited Canada, where he was invited to take up residence.
Charles Watts then became the leader of the secularist movement in Canada, founding and editing Secular Thought in Toronto, and also regularly went on lecture tours of the United States. Charles Watts rejoined the National Service Scheme and continued lecturing, as well as cooperating with Foote on the journal, The Freethinker.
He returned to the United States and Canada, with Foote, to lecture in 1896, and again visited the United States in 1899. He died in England in 1906 at the age of 70.
Charles Watts took charge of the publishing business and toured the country, delivering hundreds of lectures on theological, social, and political issues. Watts became editor of the Secular Review founded by Holyoake.