Moira Watson is the daughter of Arthur Giblin, a doctor, of England and Rita nee Flanagan of Longford, Ireland. She is a descendent of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the Irish playwright and Whig politician. Her parents met in the Middle East in 1917, married and came to Australia after World War I. The family moved from Tasmania to Victoria when Watson was nine. Her father bought a medical practice at Bright. She exchanged a world of nannies and governesses for school and the 'real world'. Watson began an Arts degree interrupted by World War II and spent four years in the Royal Australian Navy's Code and Cipher room. She later became the first publicity officer for the Melbourne Zoo. Watson was in
Carmel Bird's (q.v.) creative writing class in 1987. She has written poems and short stories all her life.
