David Maxwell Walker (9 April 1920 – 5 January 2014) was a Scottish lawyer, academic, and Regius Professor of Law at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

Early life

Walker was educated at the

High School of Glasgow The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

,"Walker, Prof. David Maxwell"
''Who's Who'', 2011, A & C Black, 2011; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010 at the time the city's publicly funded grammar school, where he was Mackindlay Prizeman in

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. He was the son of a bank agent who died when Walker was 14. Walker then began study at the University of Glasgow, but interrupted this to join the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939. He began as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

in the Cameronians, was seconded to the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...

in 1941, and then served with the

Indian Armed Forces The Indian Armed Forces are the armed forces, military forces of the India, Republic of India. It consists of three professional uniformed services: the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.—— Additionally, the Indian Ar ...

in India in 1942, in the southwest Asia from 1942 to 1943, and in Italy from 1943 to 1946, rising to the rank of captain. He resumed study at Glasgow in 1945, graduating MA in classics in 1946 and LLB (Distinction) (Robertson Scholar) in 1948, and was called to the Bar the same year. Whilst practising at the Bar he undertook postgraduate study as Faulds Fellow in Law at the University of Glasgow from 1949 to 1952 and was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh for his thesis on equity in Scots law, graduating in 1952.

Career

From 1953 to 1954 he studied at the

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) is a member institute of the School of Advanced Study, University of London. Founded in 1947, it is a national academic centre of excellence, serving the legal community and universities across the ...

of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, and in 1954 was appointed Professor of Jurisprudence at the

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

of the

. He won the Blackwell Prize of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

in 1955, and was Dean of the Faculty of Law and Financial Studies between 1956 and 1959. In 1958, he succeeded

Andrew Dewar Gibb Andrew Dewar Gibb MBE QC (13 February 1888 – 24 January 1974) was a Scottish advocate, barrister, professor and politician. He taught law at Edinburgh and Cambridge, and was Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow 1934–1958. ...

as Regius Professor of Law at Glasgow, and was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

. As Regius Professor he published widely in the area of Scots Private Law, remaining in this post until 1990. He continued as Emeritus Regius Professor, and was succeeded by Professor

Joe Thomson Joseph McGeachy Thomson (6 May 1948 – 12 May 2018) was a Scottish lawyer and academic. He was Regius Professor of Law at the University of Glasgow and a member of the Scottish Law Commission. Early life Thomson was born in Campbeltown and at ...

. He was appointed 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 ...

in 1980 and served as its Vice-President from 1985 to 1988. He was awarded honorary degrees of LLD by the Universities 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 ...

(1968),

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

(1974), and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(1985), and was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1986.

Publications

*''Law of Damages in Scotland'', 1955 *''The Scottish Legal System'', 1959, 8th edn 2001 *''Law of Delict in Scotland'', 1966, 2nd edn 1981 *''Scottish Courts and Tribunals'', 1969, 5th edn 1985 *''Principles of Scottish Private Law'' (2 vols), 1970, 4th edn (4 vols), 1988–89 *''Law of Prescription and Limitation in Scotland'', 1973, 6th edn 2002 *''Law of Civil Remedies in Scotland'', 1974 *''Law of Contracts in Scotland'', 1979, 3rd edn 1995 *''Oxford Companion to Law'', 1980 *(ed) ''Stair's Institutions'' (6th edn), 1981 *(ed) ''Stair Tercentenary Studies'', 1981 *''The Scottish Jurists'', 1985 *''Legal History of Scotland'', 7 vols, 1988–2004 *Scottish Part of Topham and Ivamy's ''Company Law'', 12th edn 1955, to 16th edn 1978;

Personal life

Walker married Margaret Knox in 1954. His interests included motoring, book-collecting and Scottish history. He served as Governor of the

from 1974 to 2001. He lived in the West End of Glasgow until his death aged 93 on 5 January 2014.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, David Maxwell 1920 births 2014 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Glasgow British Army personnel of World War II Scottish King's Counsel People educated at the High School of Glasgow Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Commanders of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century King's Counsel Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Members of the Faculty of Advocates Members of the Middle Temple Scots private law Cameronians soldiers Royal Army Service Corps soldiers Indian Army personnel of World War II British Indian Army officers British expatriates in Italy