George Washington Walker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Washington Walker (19 March 1800–1 February 1859) was a missionary for the church called Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers.
Walker was born to Unitarian parents in London. He was introduced to the Society of Friends in his teenage years when he worked for a Quaker, but Walker did not become a Quaker himself until 1827. Walker also participated in the temperance movement.
Walker met his future missionary partner James Backhouse in 1820 or 1821. Between September 1831 and February 1832, Walker and Backhouse travelled from England to Hobart, Van Dieman's Land (modern Tasmania). Between 1832 and 1838, they made a tour of the penal settlements in Australia, Van Dieman's Land, and Norfolk Islands. Between 1838 and 1840, they left Australia and did missionary work in Mauritius and South Africa.
In 1840, Walker ended his travels. He returned to Hobart in September and was married to Sarah Benson Mather on 15 December. He set up a business as a draper, and, in 1844, helped establish the Hobart Savings Bank which eventually became the Trust Bank. He worked at his business and for the Quakers and temperance until he died in 1859.
In 1994, the Hobart Savings Bank endowed a scholarship at the University of Tasmania named the “George Washington Walker Trust Bank Perpetual Undergraduate Scholarship”; it was to be awarded to students of commerce or economics.
[edit] References
- Page 1. Australiana Catalog. Kay Craddock - Antiquarian Bookseller. Retrieved on 8 May 2006.
- Blackwell, Peter. Religious Diversity in Colonial Tasmania. University Scholars Programme. National University of Singapore. Retrieved on 8 May 2006.
- Wa. Dictionary of Australian Biography. Project Gutenberg of Australia. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
- Scholarships. official website of the School of Accounting & Corporate Governance. University of Tasmania. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
