John Walker

1832 - 1889  (57 years)

• Name	John Walker
  Born	24 Jan 1832	Inveraray, , Argyll, Scotland   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108414285
  Wikipedia	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Walker_(Canadian_politician)
  Residence	1868	London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-69885
  Died	14 Aug 1889	London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2]
  Buried	Woodland Cemetery, London, Middlesex Co., Ontario   [1]
  Person ID	I69885	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Family	Ellonora "Laura" Hespeler,   b. 23 Nov 1847, Preston (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1 Feb 1935, London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada  (Age 87 years)
  Married	16 Jan 1868	Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F27660	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN WALKER. Lieutenant-Colonel John Walker was born at Inverary, Argyleshire, Scotland, on the 24th of January, 1832, his parents being John and Mary (McHardy) Walker. The grandfather was an officer of the Breadalbane Fencibles, from which the famous "Black Watch," or Forty-second Highlanders, was formed. John Walker was educated in Stirling Academy, Scotland, and in 1854 joined the Queen's Own Yeoman Cavalry at Glasgow, Scotland, and continued with that regiment until the organization of the volunteer force in Great Britain, being appointed Captain of the Grenadier Company, 19th Lanarkshire Regiment of Scotland. In 1864 he immigrated to Canada and organized a militia company at Bothwell, County of Kent, in 1866, and on the breaking out of the Fenian troubles went to the front. He was subsequently transferred as Captain to the 7th Fusiliers, London, becoming commander of that regiment in 1877, and retiring from the service in 1884, retaining his rank. Under his command his regiment became a model in discipline, and elicited unstinted praise from the successive Generals in command of the forces. He accompanied Colonel Peacock's force in the Fort Erie Fenian Campaign of 1866, and was put in command of the Windsor frontier force during the threatened Fenian troubles in 1870. He was Vice-President of the first Canada Pacific Railroad Company, of which Sir Hugh Allan was President; and a Director in the London, Ontario, Savings and Loan Company, and the Equitable Loan Company; President of the School of Art and Design; Vice-President of the London, Huron & Bruce Railway Company; Director of the Canada Chemical Company; Director of the Imperial Oil Company; President of the Mechanics Institute; Director of the Sovereign Fire Insurance Company; President of the St. Andrew's Society; Director of the City Gas Company and London Life Insurance Company; one of the founders of the Protestant Orphan's Home; and is connected with many other charitable institutions of the city. In 1865 he purchased, for a number of Scotch capitalists, the large tract of oil-producing lands owned by the Hon. George Brown (now deceased) in Bothwell, and for some years resided on the property, carrying on operations for the company. He subsequently removed to London, where he erected chemical works and an oil refinery, and here has since resided, with the exception of short periods which were spent at Montreal and Winnipeg. Mr. Walker was selected by his friends in Scotland to come to Canada to take charge of the Bothwell property, with the view to cultivating the lands and developing the oil springs with which the land abounded. The region at this period was in a very rough condition, owing to an influx of laborers from the United States during the Civil War, but the presence of Mr. Walker, and his firmness and energy, had a pacifying effect, and he was appointed magistrate there. He has always had an aversion to political warfare, and it was circumstances rather than choice that forced him, in 1874, to take to a field which had for him little fascination. At the election for the House of Commons in that year, he represented the Liberal interest in opposition to Hon. John Carling, now Minister of Agriculture in the Dominion of Canada, and defeated him by a majority of over seventy votes. The election was contested in the Courts, and Colonel Walker was unseated, being defeated also in the renewed contest. He has, however, continued to be a prominent and influential supporter of the Liberal party. He has been twice married -the first time in 1856, to Janet, daughter of John Machattie, Manager of the Canon Iron Company, of Leith, Scotland; she died in 1863, and he was again married, to Laura, daughter of Jacob Hespeler, of Waterloo County, Canada. In 1886 he was appointed Registrar of the County of Middlesex, which office he now occupies. HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. pg 1035 and 1036 __________________ WALKER, John, Canadian manufacturer, b. in Inverary, Argyllshire, Scotland, 24 Jan., 1832. He was educated at his native place and at Stirling academy, and came to Canada in 1864. He served in the Fort Erie Fenian affair of 1866, and afterward was attached to the militia, from which he retired in 1884 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Mr. Walker was vice-president of the first Canada Pacific railway company, and president of the School of art and design, is active in various financial and industrial societies, and was one of the founders of the London, Ont., Protestant orphans' home. In 1865 he purchased for Scotch capitalists the large tract of oil-producing land that belonged to George Brown, and afterward he erected chemi cal works and an oil-refinery at London, Ont. In 1874 he was chosen to the Canadian parliament; but his election was contested in the courts, he was unseated, and in the second appeal to the constituency failed of election. He was afterward registrar of deeds for Middlesex county, Ontario. Appletons' Cyclopedia of American Biography, 1600-1889 pg 328

  
  

• Sources

  [S3231] Find A Grave, John Walker (1832 - 1889) - Find A Grave Memorial. (2017). Findagrave.com. Retrieved 30 July 2017, from https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=108414285. [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration. John Walker, d. 14 Aug 1889 City of London, aged 57, Occ: registrar County of Middlesex, b. Scotland, Cause paralysis six days. [S31] News - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge - Dumfries Reformer (1850-1892), 22 jan 1868. Hespeler, Laura married 16 Jan 1868 to John Walker In Hespeler at the home of the bride's father, by Rev. M. Boomer D.D., Rural Dean. Groom, of London, Ont.; bride, third daughter of Jacob Hespeler.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 24 Jan 1832 - Inveraray, , Argyll, Scotland Residence - 1868 - London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada Married - 16 Jan 1868 - Hespeler (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 14 Aug 1889 - London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada Buried - - Woodland Cemetery, London, Middlesex Co., Ontario  = Link to Google Earth