Walker Iron Foundry

The foundry site (53°57′27″N 1°04′31″W / 53.9576227°N 1.0752922°W / 53.9576227; -1.0752922) on the banks of the River Foss, which facilitated water-borne transport, was originally silty land that had been reclaimed by a medieval dam and was a notoriously unsanitary slum.

Walker stood unsuccessfully as Conservative candidate for his local ward, but became a City Commissioner and a Churchwarden of St Denys Church, Walmgate.

He 'for many years paid the expenses of instructing the men in his employment in singing, and by this means raised an efficient church choir'.

Considering the additional substantial costs of transport from Yorkshire, it seems likely that Walker astutely took the opportunity to acquire kudos before profit.

Then in 1849 they supplied similar iron trusses for Castle Oliver, Limerick, Ireland to designs by the York architect George Fowler Jones.

On 28 April 1855 William married Sarah Thomas of King's Snaith, York and they lived away from the foundry, at Lawrence Street, then Clifton Grove.

Business continued to improve during the 3rd quarter of the 19th century, and in 1886 Walker-Thomlinson Ltd bought adjacent premises at 78 & 80 Walmgate to develop as showrooms.

Walker's developed a healthy business exporting railings and gates to colonial and foreign governments, including the Botanical Gardens in Mauritius and the Maharajah Holkar of India.

10 April 1856 at St Denys, Walmgate) assisted him in the business and upon William's death in 1911, his recently altered Will named his son as beneficiary of the company.

The firm floundered and John brought in fresh capital in the form of a Mr Birch, with whom he set up a new company at the same premises.

Walker's ceased trading shortly after John's death in 1923 and his widowed 2nd wife, Sarah Margaret Jemima lived thereafter in extreme poverty, in almshouses.