He was the son of John Walter and Nancy Player Smith, who married on 4 April 1865, in Bude Haven Parish, Cornwall.
At the time of his son's baptism he was recorded as an Inn Keeper, the same occupation as his father-in-law.
[1] Edward Walter married Louise King Jones in 1901 in New Zealand, and they had five children.
[4] He came to New Zealand in 1886 and lived for one year in the Waikato and in the Hawke's Bay Region.
[3] He was elected Reform Party Member of Parliament for Stratford in 1925, but was defeated in 1928.