R. Bailey Walker

The Reverend
R. Bailey Walker
FSS
Portrait from Fifty Years of Food Reform (1898)
Born
Robert Bailey Walker

7 October 1839
Bamber Bridge, England
Died28 May 1885 (aged 46)
St Leonards-on-Sea, England
Resting placeHastings Cemetery
Occupations
  • Clergyman
  • activist
  • editor
  • writer
SpouseMatilda Margaret "Dora" Walker
Children3

Robert Bailey Walker FSS (7 October 1839 – 28 May 1885) was an English clergyman, activist, editor, and writer. He served as honorary curate at St Clement's Church in Longsight and was actively involved in promoting temperance and vegetarianism. Walker served as secretary of the Vegetarian Society, edited several publications, and authored a number of pamphlets.

Biography

Early life

Walker was born at Bamber Bridge on 7 October 1839,[1] the son of Robert Walker and Hannah Abode.[2] He was baptised on 27 October.[2] Walker's family worked in the cotton industry.[1]

Career

Walker started his career as a schoolmaster.[1] He later served as secretary of the Free and Open Church Movement in Manchester and worked as editor of the Industrial Partnerships Record. Additionally, Walker became the first editor of Co-operative News.[3][4] He presented papers to the British Association, Social Science Congress and Manchester Statistical Society.[3] Walker was also a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.[5]

Walker was a founder of the Ruskin Society.[3][6] A committed teetotaller, he took the pledge from Joseph Livesey.[7] Walker also served as secretary of the Manchester and Salford Temperance Union and corresponded extensively social reform advocates worldwide.[7]

Walker was a strict vegetarian and became secretary of the Vegetarian Society in 1870, also serving as editor of its magazine, The Dietetic Reformer.[3] He was the first vice-president of the Order of the Golden Age.[8] In December 1884, Walker was ordained as an Anglican priest at Manchester Cathedral and served as honorary curate at St. Clement's Church in Longsight.[3][6][7]

Personal life and death

Walker was married to Matilda Margaret "Dora" Walker.[9] They had three children.[7]

Walker died at St Leonards-on-Sea from the effects of a violent cold, aged 46.[3][10] His funeral took place on 2 June 1885, at St John the Evangelist's Church, St Leonards-on-Sea, followed by his burial at Hastings Cemetery. William E. A. Axon and other friends attended.[7]

A fund was set up by the Committee of the Vegetarian Society in Walker's honour to raise funds for his children and widow.[7] Those who donated included notable vegetarians James Clark, Arnold Hills, Anna Kingsford, Edward Maitland, W. J. Monk, Isaac Pitman, John E. B. Mayor, and Howard Williams.[7]

Selected publications

Walker authored many pamphlets; a full list was published in his obituary in The Dietetic Reformer in 1885:[7]

  • The Old Oak Tree (1866)
  • Arrangement of Work (1869)
  • English Gleanings (1870)
  • The Free Church and Offertory Movement (1871)
  • Sketches of the Coroner's Court (1872)
  • Sketches, Dietetic and Literary (1876)
  • "Among the Cistercians at Mount St. Bernard" (PDF). Good Health. 14 (2): 39–41. 1879.
  • Ten Year's Dietetic Crusade (1880)
  • Almonds and Raisins: The Vegetarian Society's Annual (1884)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Death of the Rev. Robert Bailey Walker". Manchester Courier. 1 June 1885. p. 3. Retrieved 20 December 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Baptisms at St Saviour in the Parish of Bamber Bridge". Lancashire OnLine Parish Clerk Project. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Forward, Charles W. (1898). Fifty Years of Food Reform: A History of the Vegetarian Movement in England. London: The Ideal Publishing Union. p. 163.
  4. ^ Axon, William E. A. (1886). The Annals of Manchester: A Chronological Record from the Earliest Times to the End of 1885. Manchester: J. Heywood, Deansgate and Ridgefield. p. 329.
  5. ^ "Fellows". Journal of the Statistical Society. 48: 342. 1885.
  6. ^ a b Vincent, John (2003). The Diaries of Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (1826-93) Between 1878 and 1893. Leopard's Head Press. p. 490. ISBN 978-0904920451.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "In Memoriam: Robert Bailey Walker". The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger. 12 (163): 192–197. 1885.
  8. ^ Gregory, James Richard Thomas Elliott (2002). The Vegetarian Movement in Britain c.1840–1901: A Study of Its Development, Personnel and Wider Connections (PDF). Vol. 2. University of Southampton. p. 331.
  9. ^ "Deaths". Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner. 6 June 1885. p. 8. Retrieved 20 December 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Scientific News". The English Mechanic and World of Science. 41: 299. 1885.