Charles Vincent Walker FRS (20 March 1812 – 24 December 1882) was an English

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and publisher, a major influence on the development of railway

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

, 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 ...

signal.

Life

Born

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

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. 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 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 April 1793 th ...

'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, which is primarily used to create a high-quality latex of the same name. The material is rigid, naturally biologically Chemically inert, inert, resilient, electrically n ...

*Invention of a device to protect telegraph equipment from

atmospheric electricity Atmospheric electricity describes the 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 electrica ...

*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, au ...

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 Astro ...

George Biddell Airy Sir George Biddell Airy (; 27 July 18012 January 1892) was an English mathematician and astronomer, as well as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics from 1826 to 1828 and the seventh Astronomer Royal from 1835 to 1881. His many achievements inc ...

(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 A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...

and sent the first submarine telegraph message on 13 October 1848 over a 2-mile (3.2 km) cable from

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

to a ship and back.

Death and personal life

Charles Walker married Susanna Maria Violett in Ramsgate on 12 May 1846. Susanna worked a private two-needle telegraph between their home and his office in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where they lived for most of their lives. They had no children. Mrs Walker died in March 1882 in Reigate. Walker died of heart failure in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly 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 ...

, Kent. Walker's half-brother, Alfred Owen Walker (1834-1878), was also employed in the telegraph department of the South Eastern Railway. In 1865 A O Walker was appointed telegraph superintendent of the

Stockton & Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected coal mining, collieries near with ...

, and was responsible for the introduction of block signalling on this railway.

Obituary Notices

Royal Astronomical Society Charles Vincent Walker died at his residence at

, on the morning of 24 December 1882, in the seventy-first year of his age. He had been Telegraph Engineer 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 an interchange station in Lewisham, south-east London. It provides Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail services. On the National Rail network, it is as measured from and is operated by Southeastern.SoutheasternStat ...

, and on 23 May following, the

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 counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, and to extend them to

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

. 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 Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in Gre ...

. 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 Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1855, and he was a late President of the Meteorological Society, 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 Tel ...

. 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. ...

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,

, 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); *

, (1855); *Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

, (1858); *President of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians, (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 History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', 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 English businesspeople