George Walker (soldier)
{{Short description|English soldier and clergyman (d. 1690)}}
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{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
File:George Walker from NPG.jpg
George Walker (c.1645 – 1 July 1690 Old Style) was an English soldier and Anglican priest. He was joint Governor of Derry during the Siege in 1689. He was killed at the Battle of the Boyne while going to the aid of the wounded Duke of Schomberg.
Family
George Walker II (1645–1690) was born in Wighill, now in North Yorkshire, England, the son of George Walker (1600–1677), rector of Kilmore, County Armagh and Chancellor of Armagh, and Ursula Stanhope (1617–1654), daughter of Sir John Stanhope of Melwood. Walker was educated at Glasgow University. He married Isabella Barclay (1644–1705), by whom he had nine sons and daughters:Classic Encyclopedia George Walker III 1669–1699; James 1670–1700; John 1671–1726; Gervase 1672–1693; Robert 1674–1705; Thomas 1677–1712; Mary 1679; Charity 1681–1728; Elizabeth 1683.
Early career
He became rector of the Parish of Donaghmore in 1674.{{Cite web|title = History|url = https://castlecaulfield.wordpress.com/history/|website = St Michael's Castlecaulfield & St Patrick's Donaghmore| date=8 July 2011 |access-date = 2015-10-18|language = en}} He was also made rector of the Parishes of Lessan (or Lissan) and Desertlyn, in the Church of Ireland Diocese of Armagh.{{Cite web|title = The Church of Ireland Parishes of Desertlyn and Ballyeglish Desertlyn_Parish_His|url = http://www.desertlynandballyeglish.org.uk/Desertlyn_Parish_His.html|website = www.desertlynandballyeglish.org.uk|access-date = 2015-10-18}}
Siege of Derry
File:Walls of Derry (13), August 2009.JPG
A Doctor of Divinity, Walker was joint Governor of Londonderry along with Henry Baker during the Siege of Derry in 1689, and received the thanks of the House of Commons for his work.
File:Walker's Monument, Derry City, Co. Derry (24181075274).jpg
He was killed at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690 (12 July New Style), whilst going to the aid of Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg, Commander-in-Chief of all Williamite forces in Ireland, who was wounded during the crossing of the river in the early part of the battle. He was originally buried at the battlefield but at the insistence of his widow, his body was later exhumed and buried inside the church at Castlecaufield, County Tyrone.A Compendium of Irish Biography/ Walker, George, by Alfred Webb, published by M. H. Gill & son, Dublin, 1878 His body was later rediscovered and re-interred next to that of his wife but not before a cast was taken of his skull.Discovery and Re-Interment of the remains of the Rev. George Walker, RECTOR OF DONAGHMORE AND GOVERNOR OF LONDONDERRY in Newry Telegraph on 30 October 1838
The Walker Plinth on the derry city walls which was completed in 1828, remains in his memory; although the column that stood on the plinth was destroyed in an IRA bomb attack in 1973.{{Cite news|url=https://www.derryjournal.com/news/siege-hero-walker-felled-in-midnight-blast-1-2147025|title=Siege hero Walker felled in midnight blast|date=23 July 2010|work=Derry Journal|access-date=12 April 2018|language=en|archive-date=16 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030401/https://www.derryjournal.com/news/siege-hero-walker-felled-in-midnight-blast-1-2147025|url-status=dead}}
References
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External links
{{Commons category-inline|George Walker (governor)}}
- [https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100878587 The Siege of Londonderry in 1689 by George Walker]
- [https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp04665/george-walker National Portrait Gallery]
- [http://www.ocotilloroad.com/geneal/walker1.html#GEOR3 George Walker Genealogy Page]
- {{cite DNB|wstitle=Walker, George (1618-1690)}}
- [https://www.jstor.org/stable/20608737 Phrenological Notice of the Skull of Walker by the Ulster Archeological Society]
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Category:English army officers
Category:English military personnel killed in action
Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Category:People from the Borough of Harrogate
Category:History of Derry (city)
Category:17th-century English Anglican priests
Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Williamite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland