Lisa Watson was born in 1969 in the Falkland Islands to Neil and Glenda Watson. She grew up on her parents' farm near Berkeley Sound. Because their farm was remote, when Watson and her brothers Paul and Ben were in school, they lived with their grandmother in Stanley. Watson was thirteen years old when the Falklands was invaded in 1982. Lisa and her older brother were taken from Stanley to the farm by her father who came to collect them. Early in the conflict the family were subject to harassment by Argentine troops as a result of a belief they were hiding a Royal Marine who they believed had escaped during the initial invasion. During the conflict Argentine troops were stationed just a mile away from the farm and frequently checked on the family who were subject to a curfew. At the end of the war, the British military investment and presence on the island, spawned an economic rebirth in 1986, allowing funds for scholarships to island children to study free-of-charge in Britain. Watson was one of the first students to take advantage of the scholarship and studied English literature at Bangor University in Wales. She returned to the Falklands Islands on finishing her studies. Lisa has one son Jacob Riddell born in 1993.