John Francis Walker (25 November 1839 – 23 May 1907) was a natural scientist, teacher, and museum curator.

Biography

Walker was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, where his family had been for generations. His grandfather ( Robert T. Horsley) had served as Sheriff of York in 1841. He was educated at St. Peter's School, York, and then at the

Royal Agricultural College ;(from Virgil's Georgics)"Caring for the Fieldsand the Beasts" , established = 2013 - University status – College , type = Public , president = King Charles , vice_chancellor = Peter McCaffery , students ...

. Walker was subsequently a student of

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

where he studied the

Natural Sciences Tripos The Natural Sciences Tripos (NST) is the framework within which most of the science at the University of Cambridge is taught. The tripos includes a wide range of Natural Sciences from physics, astronomy, and geoscience, to chemistry and biology, ...

. After Cambridge he studied chemistry at the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

under

August Kekulé Friedrich August Kekulé, later Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz ( , ; 7 September 1829 – 13 July 1896), was a German organic chemist. From the 1850s until his death, Kekulé was one of the most prominent chemists in Europe, especially ...

and was in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War. When he returned to England he studied law and 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 ...

on 6 June 1874 and was a student of 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 associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

though never practised. Instead, Walker became a lecturer in chemistry at

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was also elected as a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College. In 1882 Walker married Alice Cracknell and together they moved to 45

Bootham Bootham is a street in the city of York, in England, leading north out of the city centre. It is also the name of the small district surrounding the street. History The street runs along a ridge of slightly higher ground east of the River Ous ...

, York. Whilst in York, Walker dedicated much more time to his study of geology and palaeontology. Walker was the honorary curator of geology at the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

from 1893–1907. He also donated fossil specimens to the museum collection and served as the vice-president of the

Yorkshire Philosophical Society The Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) is a charitable learned society (charity reg. 529709) which aims to promote the public understanding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the archaeology and history of York and Yorkshire. ...

(then the museum;s governing body). He was a specialist in

Brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

s. Walker was elected as a Fellow of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

in 1867, a Fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1873. He was also a Fellow of the

Chemical Society The Chemical Society was a scientific society formed in 1841 (then named the Chemical Society of London) by 77 scientists as a result of increased interest in scientific matters. Chemist Robert Warington was the driving force behind its creation. ...

, and a member of the

Geologists' Association The Geologists' Association, founded in 1858, is a British organisation with charitable status for those concerned with the study of geology. It publishes the ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'' and jointly with the Geological Society ...

Select publications

*Walker, J. F. 1867. "On some new Coprolite Workings in the Fens", ''Geological Magazine'' 4, 309-310. *Walker, J. F. 1878. "On the Occurrence of ''Terebratula Morieri'' in England": ''Geological Magazine'' II, 5, 52-556. *Walker, J. F. 1892. "The Discovery of ''Terebratulina substriata'', Schlotheim, in Yorkshire", ''Geological Magazine'' 9, 364. *Walker, J. F. 1903. "On a Fossiliferous Band at the top of the Lower Greensand near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire", ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'' 59, 234-265.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, John Francis 1839 births 1907 deaths 19th-century British geologists Yorkshire Museum people Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Chemical Society Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Scientists from York People educated at St Peter's School, York