174
OBITUARY NOTICES.
temperament and ancestry, he knew deeply and intimately the struggle
between the new and old forms of faith, and was full of wise sympathy for
those passing through phases of intellectual and spiritual doubt.
" He was born on March 14th, 1833, and his boyhood was spent at
Northampton, at a time when the regular appearance of the green-covered
numbers of Dickens' earlier novels began to loom as large as those of Scott's
on the mental horizon of the schoolboy. In early youth he came to London,
and laid up vivid memories of the acting of Phelps in Shakespearean tragedy
at Sadler's Wells. But social and educational movements soon made an
imperative claim upon his heart, and for forty-five years he devoted the best
of his leisure and energy to the promotion of scientific knowledge and culture,
especially among the young and those deprived of collegiate advantages. He
threw himself heartily into the work of the Early Closing Association, of
which he was for some years secretary, and at the same time pioneered the
Saturday Half-Holiday movement in the direction of natural history and
archaeological research'. His little volume, Saturday Afternoon Rambles Round
London, is a delightful memorial of some of the first excursions of this kind.
He mastered the geology, botany, and entomology of London and the home
counties, kept pace with every step of modern astronomy, the exploration of
Egypt, and many other departments of antiquarian lore. He was one of the
most popular conductors of natural history excursions, or, indeed of visitors
to any shrine sanctified by the beauty of nature, or the history of the past.
In 1874 he came to this neighbourhood to take up the editorship of the
Bayswater Chronicle, which he only relinquished within a few months of his
death. He founded the West Loudon Scientific Association and Field Club,
lectured frequently at clubs and institutes of all denominations, and took an
unflagging interest in every development of municipal life. He rejoiced in the
progress of the education of women, and their entrance into the higher
scholarship and science. Himself a staunch Gladstonian in politics, feeling,
too, strong sympathies with collectivist ideals, he never failed in justice or
courtesy to the representatives of other political creeds, and was always
ready to find common ground with them in any scheme for the benefit of the
helpless and oppressed. He was a Fellow of the Geological Society and a
member of the Essex Field Club, and was for many years on the Council of
Westbourne Park Institute. In 1880 his vigorous crusade in the columns of
this paper against a well-known gambling saloon in Monmouth Road, which
had entrapped many inexperienced young men in business in the district,
landed him in a criminal prosecution for libel, which formed a memorable
and interesting episode in his career. It resulted in the complete triumph
and vindication of the journalist and the abolition of the nuisance in question.
A presentation was afterwards made to Mr. Walker by residents in the neigh-
bourhood in recognition of his public-spirited action. For the past two years
he had gradually failed in health, and he passed away at an early hour on
Tuesday morning, in the presence of his wife and daughter."
To a later issue of the same journal, the Rev. Dr. Clifford communicated
some interesting reminiscences with which we may conclude this notice of
our deeply regretted member:—