Charles Vincent Walker
FRS (20 March 1812 – 24 December 1882) was an English
electrical engineer and publisher, a major influence on the development of railway
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
, he was also the first person to send a submarine
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
signal.
Life
Born
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...
,
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
son to Vincent and Ann ''née'' Blake, Walker's elementary education and engineering training are uncertain. However, by 1838 he had acquired some knowledge of electricity and had helped to found the
London Electrical Society The London Electrical Society was established in 1837 to enable amateur electricians to meet and share their interests in “experimental investigation of Electrical Science in all its various branches”. Although it initially flourished the societ ...
. Walker was secretary and treasurer of the Society in its early days and edited its ''Proceedings'' from 1841 to 1843. He also founded the ''
Electrical Magazine'', though only two volumes appeared in 1841–3.
[McConnell (2004)]
Also in 1841, Walker worked on the ''Manual of Electricity, Magnetism and Meteorology'' which formed part of
Dionysius Lardner
Professor Dionysius Lardner FRS FRSE (3 April 179329 April 1859) was an Irish scientific writer who popularised science and technology, and edited the 133-volume '' Cabinet Cyclopædia''.
Early life in Dublin
He was born in Dublin on 3 Apr ...
's ''Cabinet Cyclopedia''. Walker also published his own book on ''Electrotype Manipulation'', followed by his ''Electric Telegraph Manipulation'' (1850), and many other scientific works.
Railway electrician
In 1845, he became electrician to the
South Eastern Railway, a post in which he was to serve for the rest of his life.
His achievements included:
*The first person to
insulate telegraph wires with
gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus ''Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae. The name also refers to the rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, thermoplastic latex derived from the tree, particularly from ...
*Invention of a device to protect telegraph equipment from
atmospheric electricity
Atmospheric electricity is the study of electrical charges in the Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet). The movement of charge between the Earth's surface, the atmosphere, and the ionosphere is known as the global atmospheric electr ...
*Improvement of
graphite batteries
*
Time signal
A time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.
Church bells or voices announcing hours of prayer gave way to automatically operated chimes on public clocks; however, a ...
s transmitted to the railway's stations from the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, introduced following Walker's collaboration with
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
George Biddell Airy
Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements include work on planetary orbits, measuring the mean density of the E ...
(1849)
*A device to enable passengers to communicate with the guard; patented in 1866
*A
train describer; patented in 1876
Submarine telegraph
His work with gutta-percha led him to see the opportunity for a
submarine communications cable and sent the first submarine telegraph message on 13 October 1848 over a 2-mile (3.2 km) cable from
Folkestone to a ship and back.
Death and personal life
Walker died of heart failure in
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
, Kent. Though he appears to have died a widower, nothing is known of his wife.
Obituary Notices
Royal Astronomical Society
Charles Vincent Walker died at his residence at
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
, on the morning of 24 December 1882, in the seventy-first year of his age. He had been
Telegraph Engineer
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
to the
South Eastern Railway since 1845, and was one of the oldest telegraph engineers in the country. He was a zealous worker in the science of electricity, and was the inventor of several useful appliances in connection with telegraphy, including the instruments by which the block system on railways is worked. His name is especially associated with the origin of the distribution of time by telegraph. On 10 May 1849,
Mr. Glaisher wrote to Mr. Walker that he wished to talk with the latter about the laying down of a wire from the Observatory to the
Lewisham Station
Lewisham is a National Rail and Docklands Light Railway station in Lewisham, south-east London which first opened in 1849. On the National Rail network it is measured from and is operated by Southeastern.SoutheasternStation facilities: Lewish ...
, and on 23 May following, the
Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
gave Mr. Walker a brief sketch of the use to be made of the wire referred to, his scheme, as he stated, being " the transmission of time by galvanic signal to every part of the kingdom in which there is a galvanic telegraph from London." It was proposed to lay four wires underground from the
Royal Observatory to the railway station at
Lewisham
Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
, and to extend them to
London Bridge. The
South Eastern Railway Company gave every facility. On 16 September 1852, an electric clock at
London Bridge Station
London Bridge is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Southwark, south-east London. It occupies a large area on three levels immediately south-east of London Bridge, from which it takes its name. The m ...
was erected, and connected by wire with an electric clock at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The first time-signal sent from the
Royal Observatory was received at London Bridge Station at 4 p.m. on 5 August 1852; and on 9 August 1852, Dover received a time-signal for the first time from the
Royal Observatory direct, and it was made visible at certain first-class stations between London and Dover. After that the system rapidly spread, its success depending greatly on the scientific skill and zeal of Mr. Walker.
He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in 1855, and he was a late President of the
Meteorological Society
The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...
, and of the
Society of Telegraph Engineers
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...
. He was elected a Fellow of the
Society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
on 8 January 1858.
Index of Obituary Notice for the Year 1882
WALKER (Charles Vincent),
Index of Obituary Notice for the Year 1882. WALKER (Charles Vincent), Page 103
/ref> F.R.S., Past President of the Society of Telegraph Engineers, Telegraph Engineer to the South-Eastern Railway Co. 1845–82, d. at 26, Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
, 24 December (aged 70). Nature, xxvii. p. 228 ; Telegraphic Jour. and Electrical Review, xii. p. 16; Mon. Notices R. Astron. Soc. xliii. p. 182; *Iron, xx. p. 549; *Times, 28 December, p. 3/; Ath. 1883, i. p. 21; Engineering, xxxv. p. 18.
Offices and honours
* British Meteorological Society
**Member, (1850);
**President, (1869–70);
**Editor of the ''Proceedings'', (1861–1864);
*Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
, (1855);
*Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
, formation =
, founder =
, extinction =
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, (1858);
*President of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians
The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of Te ...
, (1876).
Notes
Bibliography
*McConnell, A. (2004)
Walker, Charles Vincent (1812–1882)
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 August 2007 (subscription required)
*
Platinum and the Greenwich System of Time-Signals in Britain The Work of George Biddell Airy and Charles Vincent Walker from 1849 to 1870
By John A. Chaldecott
Books by Charles Vincent Walker in Google Books
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Charles Vincent
1812 births
1882 deaths
South Eastern and Chatham Railway people
British railway pioneers
English electrical engineers
Fellows of the Royal Society
Presidents of the Royal Meteorological Society
Railway engineers
19th-century British businesspeople