Watson went to sea at nineteen. He travelled the world as a sailor and worked on coastal steamships in Australian waters.Watson was a tugmaster in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria from 1906 to 1947. He was also a keen recreational yachtsman. Watson corresponded from 1937 until his death with Harry Hastings Pearce (1897-1984) (q.v.), a rationalist also devoted to Australian literature. He was a fellow of the Bread and Cheese Club.
(Source: Harry Hastings Pearce, 'Captain Hartley Richard Watson' in Hartley R. Watson The Mermaid (1953)).