Thomas Walker (philanthropist)
Thomas Walker | |
|---|---|
| Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | |
| In office 1 June 1843 – 31 July 1845 | |
| Constituency | Port Phillip |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 3 May 1804 |
| Died | 2 September 1886 (aged 82) |
| Resting place | St John's, Ashfield |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | Jane Hart (m. 1860) |
| Children | Dame Eadith Walker |
| Residence | Yaralla Estate |
Thomas Walker (3 May 1804 – 2 September 1886) was a New South Wales colonial politician, merchant banker and philanthropist. At the time of his death, he was one of the wealthiest and most influential colonialists in New South Wales.
He was the father of Dame Eadith Walker and founder of Yaralla Estate. The Thomas Walker Hospital was named in his honor.
Life and career
Thomas Walker was born at Leith, Scotland, in 1804.[1]
He married Jane Steel Hart on 25 July 1860, when he was 56 and she was 28 years old. There was one child of the marriage, Eadith. Jane died on 26 January 1870 and was buried at St John's Ashfield.[1]
In 1876, he funded a parcel of land in Ashfield to provide a new residence for the Sydney Foundling Hospital[2] l, (Now The Infants' Home Child and Family Services).
Legacy
Walker died in 1886 in Concord, New South Wales, and was buried in the cemetery at St John's Ashfield,[3] He left a large fortune, and was survived by his daughter Eadith.
Under a codicil in Walker's will, he left £100,000 to establish the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Concord West. The hospital was duly designed by Sir John Sulman in the Federation Free Classical style[4] and built in 1893. In the early 1900s, author Henry Lawson was several times a patient there, treated for his alcoholism.
The Thomas Walker Hospital is now known as Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Unit and specialises in the treatment of young people with problems. Yaralla Estate still survives as the Dame Eadith Walker Hospital. Both hospitals are listed on the Register of the National Estate.[5]
-
Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital
-
Yaralla Mansion 2007
-
Yaralla 2009, now Dame Eadith Walker Hospital
-
North side of the house
-
Yaralla Estate stables, designed by John Sulman
-
Yaralla Estate grounds
-
Grotto at former site of swimming pool
-
Yaralla Estate field and Turpentine forest
Notes
- ^ a b Cooper, Paul F (21 May 2016). "Thomas Walker (1804-1886) Businessman, Banker and Philanthropist". Philanthropists and Philanthropy in Australian Colonial History. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
- ^ "Sydney Foundling Institution". Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1907). 4 May 1878. p. 25. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ^ "NEWS OF THE DAY". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 September 1886. p. 7. Retrieved 23 May 2013 – via Trove.
- ^ A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Apperly (Angus and Robertson) 1994, p. 104
- ^ The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/23
References
- Serle, Percival (1949). "Walker, Thomas". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
- Joy, W. "Walker, Thomas (1804–1886)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
- J. MacCulloch, 'Walker, Dame Eadith Campbell (1861–1937)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 12, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp 356–357.
- Patricia Skehan (2011). "Walker, Thomas". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 9 October 2015.