Arthur Abney Walker

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(1820–1894) was a 19th-century British botanist.

Life

He was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

in April 1820 the second son of Elizabeth Abney and her husband, Henry Walker (1785–1860) of Blyth Hall and Clifton House,

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

. The Walker Brothers were prominent ironfounders, their notable works including

Southwark Bridge Southwark Bridge ( ) is an arch bridge in London, for traffic linking the district of Southwark and the City of London, City across the River Thames. Besides when others are closed for temporary repairs, it has the least traffic of the List of ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Their predecessors had specialised in cannons and supplied most of the cannon to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

from the late 18th-century, including 80 of the 105 cannon on

HMS Victory HMS ''Victory'' is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With years of service as of , she is the world's List of oldest surviving ships, oldest naval vessel still in Ship commissioning, commission. She was ordered for the Roy ...

(the others being from the

Carron Ironworks The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron near Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. After initial problems, the company was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. Th ...

). He studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating M.D. in 1857 with the thesis ''"On the comparative anatomy of the organ of hearing in man & in the lower animals"''. There is mention of his being a surgeon, but does not appear to have ever practised, and is referred to in directories as a "gentleman", implying that he lived off independent means. In 1861 he was living in Edinburgh with his young family. They lived at 32 Melville Street: a large mid-terraced Victorian townhouse in Edinburgh's fashionable West End. In 1864 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

his proposer being

John Hutton Balfour John Hutton Balfour (15 September 1808 – 11 February 1884) was a Scottish botanist. Balfour became a Professor of Botany, first at the University of Glasgow in 1841, moving to the Edinburgh University, University of Edinburgh and also becomin ...

. In 1866 he is also listed as a Member of the Edinburgh Botanical Society alongside Robert Hutchison of Carlowrie and

Stevenson Macadam Stevenson Macadam (27 April 1829 – 24 January 1901) was a Scottish scientist, analytical chemist, lecturer, and academic author. He was a founding member of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain (now the Royal Society of Chemistry) an ...

. In the 1870s he moved from Clifton House in

. He retired to Beech Lodge in

Wimbledon Common Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Co ...

and died there in 1894.

Family

He was married at least twice, his second wife being Isabella Robertson, daughter of John Robertson of Edinburgh. They were parents to the sculptor Dame

Ethel Walker Dame Ethel Walker (9 June 1861 – 2 March 1951) was a Scottish painter of portraits, flower-pieces, sea-pieces and decorative compositions. From 1936, Walker was a member of The London Group. Her work displays the influence of Impressionism, Pu ...

(1861–1951).ODNB: Ethel Walker His sons included Arthur Edward Walker (born 1851), Frederick John Walker (born 1853), Ernest Abney Walker (born 1854) and Col Henry Walker.

Publications

*''Studies of the Geographic Botany of Europe'' (1859)

References

1820 births 1894 deaths People from Rotherham British botanists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh {{UK-botanist-stub