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

, 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 associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

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. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford and north-east of Altrincham. Str ...

, taking part in township affairs, and tackling

pauperism Pauperism (Lat. ''pauper'', poor) is poverty or generally the state of being poor, or particularly the condition of being a "pauper", i.e. receiving relief administered under the English Poor Laws. From this, pauperism can also be more generally ...

. 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 (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

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 the idea that population growth is potentially exponential while the growth of the food supply or other resources is linear, which eventually reduces living standards to the point of triggering a population die off. This event, c ...

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 William Blanchard Jerrold (London 23 December 1826 – 10 March 1884), was an English journalist and author. Biography He was born in London, the eldest son of the dramatist, Douglas William Jerrold. Due to his disagreements with the practice ...

; *1875, as edited by

William Augustus Guy William Augustus Guy (13 June 1810 – 10 September 1885) was a British physician and medical statistician. Life He was born in Chichester and educated at Christ's Hospital and Guy's Hospital; he then studied at the University of Heidelberg an ...

; *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. Morley wrote a popular book containing biographies of famous English writers. Life The son o ...

, 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 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Cole is credited with devising the concept of ...

), 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