Walker Family
HISTORY OF THE WALKER NAME :
The name WALKER is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a fuller, whose job it was to scour and thicken raw cloth by beating it and trampling it in water. The surname WALKER is derived from the Old English word wealcere, which means fuller. The name WALKER is an occupatonal surname derived from a word connected to the profession of the bearer. There are many variations of the name including Walkere, Wallkere, Wollker and Wollkere.
The earliest records of the Walker family were found in the county of Warwickshire, where Richard le Walkere was enumerated as a resident about 1248. Members of the Walker family settled in Yokshire in that century, and Robert le Walker was recorded as a resident of that area in 1260. Sir Edward Walker was Garter King of Arms in 1676 and Francis Walker held the post of High Sheriff of Gloucester in 1725. The family was also established in the English counties of Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Middlesex, and Worcestershire, and in the Scottish counties of Berwick and Inverness.
A number of people bearing the name Walker immigrated to North America during the 1600s and 1700s. These included John Walker who landed in Virginia in 1623, Augustine Walker who landed in Massachusetts in 1630, James Walker who settled in St Christopher in 1635, Captain Walker who landed in Boston, Massachusetts ion 1763, and Thomas Walker, a mason, who settled in Newfoundland in 1773.
OUR WALKER FAMILY :
James Walker
I believe James was born around 1830 in England. He married Mary Sybil BRAITHWAITE. James and Mary came to New Zealand with son George and daughter Ellen in the early 1860s.
Mary, George and Ellen are confirmed as arriving on the "Matilda Wattenbach" on 8 September 1862. James may have arrived earlier in the year and helped with the building of roads and bridges in the district known as "Albertland", North Auckland. The family later settled in Thames.
Children of James and Mary :
Ellen born 7 February 1857. She married Thomas WILLIAMS and in 1872 settled in Thames. Ellen died on 22 June 1939.
George Braithwaite born 23 February 1859.
Mary Sybil born 24 October 1865 and died 15 March 1866.
Mary born 10 December 1871 and died on 16 March 1959 in Otahuhu, Auckland. Mary married John Henry LANGE who was a tailor in Thames. John was born around 1872 and died on 8 April 1932. The family later settled in Otahuhu, Auckland. John and Mary had two sons -
- Eric Roy born 1899. Eric married Phoebe FYSHREID. She was born in 1909 in Tasmania, Australia and died in Auckland on 5 June 1990.
- Harold Braithwaite. Harold was a Doctor. During World War Two he was based in Egypt and the Middle East. He married Rita (maiden name unknown).
Harold died on 3 November 1964.
William was the brother of James. He was born on 29 May 1832 and also came to New Zealand in the early 1860s. He is not listed as a passenger on the "Matilda Wattenbach" but may have arrived earlier in the year with his brother James.
William and his family settled in Albertland during the 1870s. Prior to this they had lived in Te Arai. William made an application to the Lands & Deeds Office Thames on 25 November 1878 to purchase land in the Thames area. He died on 28 May 1882 in the Kauearanga Valley, Thames.
Ellen was born on 7 February 1857 and died on 22 June 1939 in Thames, New Zealand. She arrived in New Zealand in 1862 on the "Matilda Wattenbach" with her mother and younger brother George.
On 23 November 1878 Ellen married Thomas Williams at Hape Creek Road, Thames. Thomas was born on 26 October 1852 in St Ives, Cornwall, England and died on 4 April 1930 in Thames.
Thomas and Ellen lived in Auckland for 12 months after their marriage and then went to the gold-fields at Moonta, South Australia. On their return to New Zealand they settled in Thames and had a small farm and a milk run. Thomas and Ellen raised a family of seven children - Ellen, Thomas, Mary, Harry, Ruby, Jane and Ethel.
