Gilbert Thomas Walker, 1868-1958

Abstract

Gilbert Thomas Walker was born on 14 June 1868, the eldest son and fourth child of a family of eight. His father, Thomas Walker, M.I.C.E., was Borough Engineer of Croydon, and was one of the pioneers in the use of concrete for big structures like reservoirs for town water supplies. He came from Eckington, a village north of Chesterfield, and was one of seven children. Gilbert’s mother, Elizabeth Haslehurst, was one of a family of four. She became a permanent invalid when Gilbert was about six years old. Gilbert’s first school was Whitgift Grammar School of Croydon, which he entered in 1876. There he showed an early interest in arithmetic and mechanics. In 1881 he won a scholarship to St Paul’s School, then under the famous headmaster F. W. Walker. There, according to his own account, he spent two years on the classical side but was then ‘sent in disgrace’ to the mathematical side when he made some appalling linguistic blunder. In 1884, he passed the London matriculation and was given a small prize awarded to the best students who intended to take a London degree.