Thomas Walker (1784–1836) was an English barrister, police magistrate and author. He is now remembered for his one-man periodical, ''The Original''.

Life

He was the son of Thomas Walker (1749–1817) the radical, born at Barlow Hall,

Chorlton-cum-Hardy Chorlton-cum-Hardy is a suburban area of Manchester, England, southwest of the Manchester city centre, city centre. Chorlton (ward), Chorlton ward had a population of 14,138 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census, and Chorlton Park (w ...

, near Manchester, on 10 October 1784. His father was a Manchester cotton merchant. Walker went to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, and graduated B.A. in 1808 and M.A. in 1811. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

on 8 May 1812. After the death of his father, he lived for some years at Longford Hall,

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

, taking part in township affairs, and tackling

pauperism Pauperism (; ) is the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the Irish poor laws, Irish and English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally the state of being supported at public expense, withi ...

. In 1829 he was appointed a police magistrate at the Lambeth Street court. On 20 May 1835 he began the publication of ''The Original'', and continued it weekly until the following 2 December. Walker died unmarried at

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 20 January 1836, and was buried in the cemetery there. A tablet to his memory was placed in St Mary's, Whitechapel.

Works

In 1826 Walker published ''Observations on the Nature, Extent, and Effects of Pauperism, and on the Means of reducing it'' (2nd edit. 1831), and in 1834 ''Suggestions for a Constitutional and Efficient Reform in Parochial Government''. He wrote from a

Malthusian Malthusianism is a theory that population growth is potentially exponential, according to the Malthusian growth model, while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of trig ...

point of view. ''The Original'' was intended to raise "the national tone in whatever concerns us socially or individually", and comprised a collection of Walker's thoughts on many subjects. Its writing on health and gastronomy were most appreciated. Many later editions of ''The Original'' were published, with a reprint in 1850: *1874, with memoirs of the two Walkers by William Blanchard Jerrold; *1875, as edited by William Augustus Guy; *1887, one with an introduction by

Henry Morley Henry Morley (15 September 1822 – 14 May 1894) was an English academic who was one of the earliest professors of English literature in Great Britain. He also authored a popular book featuring biographies of notable English writers. Life The ...

, and another "arranged on a new plan". A selection, entitled ''The Art of Dining and of attaining High Health'', was printed at Philadelphia in 1837; and another selection, by Felix Summerley (

Sir Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole FRSA (15 July 1808 – 15 April 1882) was an English civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce, education and the arts in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Cole is credited with devising the c ...

), was published in 1881 as ''Aristology, or the Art of Dining''.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Thomas 1784 births 1836 deaths English barristers English writers 19th-century English lawyers