HISTORY OF THE WALKER NAME

The name WALKER is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a fuller, whose job it was to scour and thicken raw cloth by beating it and trampling it in water. The surname WALKER is derived from the Old English word wealcere, which means fuller. The name WALKER is an occupatonal surname derived from a word connected to the profession of the bearer. There are many variations of the name including Walkere, Wallkere, Wollker and Wollkere.

The earliest records of the Walker family were found in the county of Warwickshire, where Richard le Walkere was enumerated as a resident about 1248. Members of the Walker family settled in Yokshire in that century, and Robert le Walker was recorded as a resident of that area in 1260. Sir Edward Walker was Garter King of Arms in 1676 and Francis Walker held the post of High Sheriff of Gloucester in 1725. The family was also established in the English counties of Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Somerset, Middlesex, and Worcestershire, and in the Scottish counties of Berwick and Inverness.

A number of people bearing the name Walker immigrated to North America during the 1600s and 1700s. These included John Walker who landed in Virginia in 1623, Augustine Walker who landed in Massachusetts in 1630, James Walker who settled in st Christopher in 1635, Captain Walker who landed in Boston, Massachusetts ion 1763, and Thomas Walker, a mason, who settled in Newfoundland in 1773.