Walker Brothers was a pioneer soap manufacturer in the British colony of South Australia.
History
Thomas Moody Walker (c. 1801 – 22 March 1878) and his wife Mary Ann Walker, née Lamb, (c. 1813 – 15 April 1900) of
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
, England, emigrated to South Australia with their three children aboard ''Lord Goderich'', arriving in April 1838.
He founded a candle factory in
Wakefield Street, Adelaide
Wakefield Street is a main thoroughfare intersecting the centre of the South Australian capital, Adelaide, from east to west at its midpoint. It crosses Victoria Square in the centre of the city, which has a grid street plan. It continues as ...
(between Acland and Robert streets, neither now in existence) in 1840 and by 1841 was producing enough to advertise his wares, and was making soap a few months later, the first in the field, though Burford's was making candles a few months earlier.
At the Exhibition of 1845 his soaps were praised by the judges as comparable in quality to those of English manufacturer
Paton and Charles, while those of
Wright & Linn's Hindmarsh Soap Manufactory and
W. H. Burfords were barely inferior. His candles and Burford's, however, were not rated as highly as those of
A. H. Davis of Moore Farm. The judges opined that future importation of both soap and candles would be not only needless but unprofitable.
In 1847 he gained a wine and beer licence for the Fountain Inn, on his property, adjacent to the factory, but after three years allowed it to lapse and converted the place for his private use.
By 1876 the company was being managed by the brothers Thomas Moody Walker, jnr, and Frederick Charles Walker; weekly production of candles was around .
The firm prospered, and plans were put to the Woodville Council for a new factory to be built at
Ridleyton, but were resisted by nearby residents, especially
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
, which had become a popular middle-class suburb, and quite reasonably anticipated a continual nuisance smell from such a factory.
Frederick Charles Walker retired from the business in 1880, leaving Thomas Moody Walker, jnr, in sole charge.
Other interests
T. M. Moody was an adherent of the Order of Oddfellows for sixty years and held a high position in the Society.
Family
Thomas Moody Walker (6 May 1800 – 22 March 1878) married Mary Ann Lamb (1813 – 15 April 1900) in Boston, Lincolnshire, arrived in South Australia in April 1838. Among their children were:
*Elizabeth Ann Walker (c. 1832 – ) married John Rivers Lunniss in 1848.
*William Henry Walker (c. 1833 – 19 March 1903) married Charlotte Caroline Stocker on 2 April 1866.
*Mary Lamb Walker (c. 1836 – 17 March 1886) married George Miller Newman ( – 1859) in 1854
*Frances Chapman Walker (27 September 1840 – ) married George Hughes ( – ) on 6 October 1861
*Lucy Allanby Walker (c. 1841 – 10 January 1930) married Benjamin Watson ( – 14 January 1905) in 1863
*Thomas Moody Walker (1843 – 12 September 1926) married Alice Emery (1848 – 26 May 1930)
in 1866
:*Emma May Walker (1872 – 1965) married publican John Birchmore in 1901
*Frederick Charles Walker (1852 – ) married Emma Georgina Alley ( – ) on 9 April 1874
See also
Some other soap and candle makers of colonial South Australia
*
W. H. Burford & Sons
*
Crompton and Sons
*
J. H. M. Hawkes
John Henry Mason Hawkes (9 July 1851 – 5 May 1944) was a businessman in the early days of Adelaide, South Australia
History
Hawkes was born in Goodwood, South Australia, the eldest surviving son of John Henry Mason Hawkes (c. 1827 – 14 Octob ...
*
J. Tidmarsh & Co.
References
{{Reflist
History of Adelaide
Defunct manufacturing companies of Australia