FORMER Hereford MP Lord Gibson-Watt has left more than £4 million in his will including heirlooms belonging to his famous ancestor - engineer and inventor, James Watt.

David Gibson-Watt was Hereford's Conservative MP for 18 years from 1956 until 1974 and during this time he was Lord Commissioner at the Treasury and a Minister of State at the Welsh Office.

He was also honorary president of Timber Growers UK as well as Vice-President of the Kennel Club and owned an estate in Llandrindod Wells.

Following his death a year ago, the family has decided to sell possessions and mementoes owned by his great-great-great-grandfather, James Watt, who invented the steam train and whose name appears on every light bulb as a unit of power.

Soup tureen

The James Watt collection, which has been lovingly preserved by the former MP is now expected to fetch £750,000 at Sotheby's in London on March 20.

The family treasures include James Watt's brass kaleidoscope that is expected to raise £2,000 as well as his spectacles and magnifying glasses estimated at between £600 to £800.

A George III silver soup tureen presented to the inventor by the proprietors of the Glasgow Waterworks and is worth an estimated £10,000 to £15,000, will also go under the hammer.