John Walker (1802 - 1879)

Born 10 Nov 1802 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Whitworth) Walker — married 12 Aug 1829 in Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, Manchester, Lancashire, England

Descendants

Died 22 Oct 1879 at age 76 in Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Biography

The Industrial Revolution was beginning to sweep Yorkshire, England when John Walker was born on 10 Nov 1802. The rural population was moving to the growing cities finding jobs in the factories. Never before had the earth seen cities so large.

John’s father was 31 and still managing to sell hand woven woolen products in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Rachel’s caring mother was 18 and pleased to cuddle the tiny John, her first child, in her arms.

They had John baptized on 05 Dec 1802 at Square Chapel Independent in Halifax. They were regular church goers at the Congregationalist Church and went to the special services when travelling Ministers like John Wesley came to town to preach about accepting Jesus Christ personally, prison reform and the abolition of slavery.

John enjoyed growing up in Halifax and playing with his sisters Martha, Mary and Elizabeth and brother William. He attended school until he was fourteen.

Then John accepted an apprenticeship with William Butter who ran a quaint old shop in downtown Halifax on Northgate at the top of Goal Lane. There he began on Feb 5,816 to learn to be a draper a retailer of textile fabric. The cotton mills of nearby Manchester were churning out beautiful linens - sheets, pillow cases, towels that had never before been so affordable. They were turning out beautiful fabrics for clothing. John was a sensual person and enjoyed the touch and feel of the fabrics as well as their intrinsic beauty. He knew how to be charming and the customers enjoyed him. He learned how to negotiate the price with customers and learned the skills of selling. John stayed with Mr. Butter after his apprenticeship was over and took over the business in 1827 when William Butter died. They were high class drapers dealing with household linens of every type, soft furnishings (e.g.materials for curtains, cushions ) and underwear for ladies and gentlemen but not children.

John was a hard worker and the business prospered. He closely supervised his assistants and apprentices and enjoyed giving good attention to his customers. John was also a good buyer - knowing what would sell and dickering well to get a good price. In his dealings he was just and honourable to all. His word could be trusted.

Newspaper cartoons of the time mocked the linen drapers in their subservience to the rich and the obsequiousness with which they would offer additional objects for sales like beautifully worked handkerchiefs and aprons. (“Allow me to tempt you with one of these beautiful handkerchiefs. Here are ladies’ aprons, sir, most beautifully worked, quite elegant, very tasty and fashionable.”) I doubt that this bothered John whose pocket book was full and who was a model example of the Protestant Work Ethic .Like his parents, he ascribed to a belief in progress, technology and hard work.

See photograph is from Stephen Gee’s Book ‘Around Halifax’ page 16. It shows the shop at 2 Northgate at the top of Goal Lane ‘established 100 years’ The name John Walker can be seen on the awning

Perhaps it was in the course of doing business that he met Henry Whitworth from Manchester. Manchester was known as the Warehouse City and “Cottonopolis” because by 1853 it had 108 cotton mills operating there.

The population in Manchester was growing rapidly. It was 90,000 in 1801 and would rise to 338,000 in 1861. By 1835 “Manchester was without challenge the first and greatest industrial city in the world.” The Industrial Revolution brought about the beginnings of the middle class. It brought wealth to some and poverty and squalor to others. Areas of the city were dirty, unsanitary and overcrowded. Sewage ran in open ditches by the side of streets. In 1832 and 1848 there were outbreaks of cholera in the towns of Yorkshire.

There were bread and labour riots, including one in 1819 that ended with the killing of 15 people (the Peterloo Massacre of 16 August 1819). Engels spent much of his life in and around Manchester writing his The Condition of the Working Class in England which was published in 1844.

Halifax was a much smaller city than Manchester and not expanding as quickly but our ancestor John Walker was becoming increasingly prosperous. At the age of 27, he felt ready to marry. He selected Ann who he felt would show him tenderness, understanding and respect. On 12 Aug 1829 at the Anglican Manchester Cathedral in Lancashire, England, he married the twenty-five year old Ann Whitworth. Ann and her father Henry had both been baptized in the Cathedral with its spectacular late medieval wooden furnishings and a nave roof supported by angels with gilded instruments. It was built between 1421-1882 in the Perpendicular Gothic style.

John’s sister Martha had married William Sunderland the month before his marriage. William had started a boarding school for boys. John found Martha and her husband very agreeable and enjoyed visits with them.

John always had a sense that there was more to life that what could be seen on the surface. Business success and happiness in his home were important to him but he also felt an important call to serve God and to tend to his immortal soul. He felt a call to accept Christ personally and to help others. This caused him to leave the Congregationalist Church of his parents and join Pellon Lane Particular Baptist Church. He identified several reasons for doing so. He agreed with the Baptist approach that there was no governing body. Instead, each person each directly responsible to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the assembly. Secondly, he agreed that people needed to be born again in the spirit of God - to live their life in a new way. Thirdly, he agreed that it was an adult decision to do so and so baptism should be for adults and not babies.

And so it was that when his first child (Mary Jane ) was born, John and Ann registered her birth with the Pellon Lane Particular Baptist, Halifax, Yorkshire, England rather than having her baptized. More particularly, she was registered in W. Williams Library, Red Cross St. Soudac on Dec 16,1832. This was also what they did when their next children Martha and John were born. John was particularly pleased when his son was born and looked forward to the day when they would work together in the linen draper business.

John also had a strong desire to be of service. In 1938, he became a deacon at Pellon Lane Particular Baptist Church and remained so until his death. In this capacity, he sought to serve the Lord by doing benevolence work, visiting the sick, promoting unity within the church and facilitating the spread of the gospel. In appoining a deacon, the church looked for “Men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom.” Acts 6:3.

It was said at his funeral that John was “ diligent, attentive, and faithful without pretence or obtrusion in his church duties”. In addition, he gave willingly of his time and money for various extensions and improvements at the church.

John had not expected and was devastated at the death of his wife Ann in the spring of 1840. It was not easy for him to trust people but he had learned to trust Ann completely and now she was gone. He missed her deeply. Outwardly, he acted stoically.

The 1841 census found John widowed and living in Northgate in the floors above the shop where he worked. Living with him were his 3 children, 3 servants and 3 apprentice linen drapers .John kept himself very busy by working very long hours and training his apprentices carefully. It was usual for apprentices to receive room and board in lieu of wages for their three or four year training period. They usually started at age 13 or 14.Apprentices were initially used as “go-fors but gradually became involved in all aspects of the business eg buying/selling, cutting.

About 1843, John married Sarah Taylor who at 44 was four years older than him. Their child Elizabeth was born a year later. By 1851, the family had been able to move to a more prosperous dwelling at 6 West Parade in Halifax. His great will-power, persistence and insight had helped him succeed materially. His kind and gentle nature had made his home an inviting place so that at the time of the 1851 census, there were visitors present as well as his children and the two servants. The visitors included William Varley, and Martha Anne Sunderland, age 19, his niece ( daughter of William and Martha Sunderland of Ashton under Lyne). John’s children Martha(16) and John(14) were not home at the time of the census. John had started his draper apprenticeship with his father.

In 1855, Sir Francis Crossley and his brother Joseph Crossley built two almhouses to provide accommodation for the elderly. Qualifications to live there included being at least 60 years old: being incapacitated from work by age, disease or infirmity ;and have no adequate means of support. Good character was required as well as a religious upbringing. Each house has a living room, bedroom, cellar and pantry and one or two have an additional storey with more rooms. The almshouses continue to provide very popular sheltered housing.

John gave £1,000 to the Crossley Orphanage and School and was a governor of the Almshouses. John also helped manage the Tradesmen’s Benevolent Society. He commanded respect from others with his strong, quiet exterior.

His children began to marry. His oldest daughter married first in 1857 to a prosperous farmer. In 1865, his second daughter Martha married her first cousin Then his son who was in business with him married and finally in 1869 his youngest daughter married London surgeon. John and Sarah were alone then with several servants.

In 1871, John Walker senior was still working as a linen draper. He and his family were living at 2 West Parade. They lived in the area of Holy Trinity Parsonage. Thomas Walsh, JP and Alderman, lived at 6 West Parade . The neighbours at Heatherstone House were Jabez Bunting Farrer and his wife 9 children and 3 servants . Farrer was an Alderman and Machine Maker employing 103 men and 17 boys.

In 1872, his grandson James Clark became an apprentice in his draper business with himself and .his son, John William Walker.

John worked until his death on 22 Oct 1879 at the age of 77. He was buried in Lister Lane Cemetery (in Halifax) after a service in Pellon Lane Baptist Church. Sarah Walker died 1884.

Their Grave Inscription reads: “In Loving Memory of John Walker who entered in rest 22nd February 1879 in the 77th year of his age Also of Sarah, widow of the above john Walker of 2 West Parade Halifax who fell asleep in Jesus 16th February 1884 in her 86th year.”

The business continued for at least three generations. After John’s grandson (Denton) retired in June 1949, it was taken over by H W Naylor who had been with the firm for 45 years.

Death of Mr John Walker 22nd October 1879 (from Halifax Courier)

We are called upon this week to announce the departure from this life of Mr. John Walker, Linen draper, an event which occurred at his residence in West-parade, on, Wednesday last. He-was born on the 10th -November, 1802, and had thus nearly reached the ripe age of 77 years. His face and form have been for sixty years familiar in the streets of Halifax, and though not by any means what is called ‘ a public man,’ few people-were better known than he. So far as we know he was a native of the town, and was apprenticed with Mr. Wm Butter, draper, Northgate, at the quaint old shop at the top of Gaol-lane, which was pulled down, with others, a few years since, to make way for the present structures. Here Mr. Butter died in the month of June, 1827, and Mr. Walker succeeded him in the business, and on the same spot he has been a diligent and thriving man of business ever since, except for the short interval when he had to remove till, the premises were rebuilt. Mr. Walker had learnt and practisd what it is, said we ought all to do, namely to mind his own business and to let other people’s alone. He was a hard worker until recently the some ailments prevented him from going to his shop quite early and regularly as he used to do. But for most part of his life, it was his habit to be at his shop opening in the morning, and to remain till its closing at night; and while there he wrought as laboriously as any of his assistants or apprentices. He was a capital buyer,-and could sell with anybody.

As to the quality of integrity in his dealings no one ever heard the faintest breath of suspicion on that head. His word could be relied upon without the shadow of doubt, and in his dealings he was just and honourable to all. We learn that he joined the Baptist communion in Pellon lane in the year 1832, was appointed a deacon in 1836, and has retained that office till the last. In all his church duties he was a diligent, attentive, and faithful without pretence or obtrusion. From the time of his connection with Pellon-lane he has given his time and his money in the church’s aid, and in the various extensions and improvements which have time to time been needful a good helper was ever at band in Mr Walker. It was a grief to him when, last February the Chapel he had so long worshipped in was destroyed by fire; but he lived to see its restoration, and helped in the process with his counsel and with cash.

In politics he was a staunch Liberal, and he was ever faithful to his principles, at no period could he be prevailed upon to give a doubtful vote.

The different religious and benevolent institutions of the town received his constant aid. Some years since he gave the handsome sum of £1,000 to the Crossley Orphanage and School. He was a governor of Sir Francis Crossleys Almshouses, and on the management of the Tradesmen’s Benevolent Society. We are informed , that the Funeral will take place on Monday next at Lister Lane Cemetery at 12 o’clock, and that previously a service will be held in Pellon Lane Chapel.

Christening

Christening:

Date: 5 Dec 1802

Place: Square Chapel Independent, Halifax, Yorkshire, England

Burial

Burial:

Place: Lister Lane Cemetery

Census

• 1851 England Census: Name: John Walker; Event Place: , Yorkshire,Yorkshire (West Riding), England; Registration District: Halifax; Residence Note: West Parade; Gender: Male; Age: 48; Marital Status: Married; Occupation: Linnen Draper; Birth Year (Estimated): 1803; Birthplace: Halifax, Yorkshire; Relationship to Head of Household: Head

John Walker Head M 48 Halifax, Yorkshire

Sarah Walker Wife F 52 Beverley, Yorkshire

Mary Jane Walker Daughter F 18 Halifax, Yorkshire

Elizabeth Walker Daughter F 7 Halifax, Yorkshire

William Varley Visitor M 25 Stanningley, Yorkshire

Martha A Sunderland Visitor F 19 Ashton Under Line, Lancashire

Sarah Stevenson Servant F 26 Paiggleston, Yorkshire

Eliza Smith Servant F 13 Halifax, Yorkshire

• 1861 England Census: Name: John Walker; Event Place: Halifax St James, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom; Event Place (Original): Halifax, Yorkshire (West Riding), England; County: Yorkshire (West Riding); Parish: Halifax; Registration District: Halifax; Residence Note: West Parade; Gender: Male; Age: 58; Marital Status: Married; Occupation: Draper Linen; Birth Year (Estimated): 1803; Birthplace: Halifax, Yorkshire; Relationship to Head of Household: Head

John Walker Head M 58 Halifax, Yorkshire

Sarah Walker Wife F 62 Beverley, Yorkshire

John W Walker Son M 24 Halifax, Yorkshire

Elizabeth Walker Daughter F 17 Halifax, Yorkshire

David Griffiths Boarder M 57 Slyan, Carmarthenshire

• 1871 England Census: Name: John Walker; Event Place: Halifax St James, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom; Event Place (Original): Halifax, Yorkshire (West Riding), England; Sub-District: Halifax; Gender: Male; Age: 68; Marital Status: Married; Occupation: Draper; Birth Year (Estimated): 1803; Birthplace: Halifax, Yorkshire; Relationship to Head of Household: Head

John Walker Head M 68 Halifax, Yorkshire

Sarah Walker Wife F 72 Beverley, Yorkshire

Mary Jane Clark Daughter F 38 Halifax, Yorkshire

William W Sunderland Visitor M 34 Ashton Under Lyne, Lancashire

Lousia Simpson Servant F 22 Hipperholme Cum Brighouse, Yorkshire

Wilson Servant F 20 Bentley Rowley, Yorkshire

Sources

• "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPM4-Z6F : 12 September 2019), John Walker, , Yorkshire,Yorkshire (West Riding), England; citing , Yorkshire,Yorkshire (West Riding), England, p. 17, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• "England and Wales Census, 1861," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M7Z3-125 : 12 September 2020), John Walker, Halifax St James, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom; from "1861 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 9, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
• "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZGN-91D : 24 April 2019), John Walker, 1871.