George Washington Walker (19 March 1800 – 2 February 1859) was an English-born Australian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

for the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

called

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

, or Quakers. Walker was born to Unitarian parents in London, the twenty-first child of John Walker by his second wife, Elizabeth. He was educated at a school in

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

. He was introduced to the Society of Friends in his teenage years when he worked in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

for a linen draper who was a Quaker, but Walker did not become a Quaker himself until 1827. Walker also participated in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

. Walker met his future missionary partner

James Backhouse :''See alsfor two other James Backhouse botanists and nursery owners of York.'' James Backhouse (8 July 1794 – 20 January 1869) was a botanist and missionary for the Quaker church in Australia. His son, also James Backhouse (1825–1890), wa ...

in 1820 or 1821. Between September 1831 and February 1832, Walker and Backhouse travelled from England to

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sepa ...

(modern

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

). Between 1832 and 1838, they made a tour of the penal settlements in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

. Between 1838 and 1840, they left Australia and did missionary work in

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and South Africa. In 1840, Walker ended his travels. He returned to Hobart in September and was married to Sarah Benson Mather on 15 December 1840. He set up a business as a draper, and, in 1844, helped establish the

Hobart Savings Bank Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smalle ...

which eventually became the

Trust Bank A trust company is a corporation that acts as a fiduciary, trustee or agent of trusts and agencies. A professional trust company may be independently owned or owned by, for example, a bank or a law firm, and which specializes in being a trus ...

. He worked at his business and for the Quakers and temperance until he died on 2 February 1859 in Hobart. In 1994, the Hobart Savings Bank endowed a scholarship at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

named the "George Washington Walker Trust Bank Perpetual Undergraduate Scholarship"; it was to be awarded to students of commerce or economics. His eldest son was

James Backhouse Walker James Backhouse Walker, (14 October 1841 – 4 November 1899) was an Australian solicitor and historian. Life James Backhouse Walker, the eldest son of George Washington Walker, was born at Hobart. He was educated at the High School, Hobar ...

References

* * * * * 1800 births 1859 deaths English Quakers Australian Quakers Converts to Quakerism Quaker missionaries People from Barnard Castle English Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in Australia Protestant missionaries in Norfolk Island Protestant missionaries in South Africa Protestant missionaries in Mauritius {{quaker-stub