Thomas Riddell Ross Watt was a Justice of the Peace who lived in New Gisborne. He represented the Bullengarook riding as a councillor for the Shire of Gisborne. Serving in 1895, he was due to retire in 1896, but was re-elected in 1897 and retired in August 1899. In 1897 he served as Shire President.

This may be Thomas, son of Ross Watt, who called his property 'Rosslynne'.

Thomas married Blanche Hamilton, who became the first female Shire President in Victoria. Blanche instigated Wattle Day in Victoria with her young daughter Betty, when in 1912 they handed out sprigs of wattle in Melbourne to raise funds to build a branch of the Church of England in what is now New Gisborne. In that first year, they raised £3000. Blanche Ross-Watt also formed the Gisborne Red Cross Branch, within a few days of the outbreak of World War One. She received an OBE in 1949.

Ross Watt Road in Gisborne and Ross-Watt Children's Hall in New Gisborne may be named after Thomas or Blanche Ross Watt or members of their family.

References:
Victorian Municipal Directory.
Gisborne and Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society Inc. website http://www.gisbornemountmacedon.org.au/history.htm.

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