Walker, Hugh

Person

Walker, Hugh

There are three different records for Hugh Walker attending The Glasgow School of Art at the time of the First World War and it is unclear which of these men is listed on the World War 1 Roll of Honour as part of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders battalion: (1)Hugh Walker was born in Galston, East Ayrshire on 6th January 1874, one of four children of Mary (née Smith) and Malcolm Walker, a grocer and later a coal miner. He had two older siblings: Malcolm and Margaret, and a younger sister Mary. In the 1891 census, Walker was recorded as a pupil teacher. Walker attended The Glasgow School of Art from 1900 to 1904 as a part time student of drawing and painting. He lived with his wife Catherine Johnstone Walker (née Connell) in Cathcart whilst he studied and worked as an Inland Revenue clerk. During the First World War, Walker may have served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders battalion. Walker died on 13th March 1953 in Pollok, Glasgow. His death certificate notes that he was a retired Collector of Customs and Excise and also had a daughter, EM Reid. (2) Hugh Aitken Hutchison Walker was born on 29th July 1892, one of six children of Mary and William Walker, a machine fitter from Dundee. The family had moved from Scotland to Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire with the eldest children Archibald and Catherine when Hugh was born. Walker attended The Glasgow School of Art from 1909 to 1913 as a part time student of Architecture. He also attended from 1920 to 1921 after serving in the First World War. During the First World War, he served as a private in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders battalion. A page in the Gazette also notes he became a 2nd lieutenant in this battalion in 1915. The Dictionary of Scottish Architects provides information about Hugh's life before and after the war: "Hugh Aitken Hutchison Walker was articled to J Hamilton & Son of Glasgow from June 1907 until June 1912. In July of the latter year he joined Reid & Wingate as improver, remaining there until December 1914 when he joined the armed forces. He was demobilised in March 1919 and in June that year joined George Arthur & Son as a draughtsman. He left that office in December 1920, the same year in which he completed his studies at Glasgow School of Architecture which he had begun in 1907. (GSA records show that Walker began his studies at GSA in 1909) Walker then emigrated to South Africa where he was appointed draughtsman in the Public Works Department of Pretoria. He passed the qualifying exam in Cape Town in December 1922 and was admitted ARIBA on 3 December 1923, his proposers being Joseph Lockwood Hall, Ernest Marston Powers and the RIBA Council. His declaration accepting his Associateship bears a surprisingly late date of 27 April 1927, but it seems likely that this was a slip of the pen." A Mr H A H Walker is recorded to have travelled to Cape Town, South Africa in 1921 from Southampton, England. The Dictionary of Scottish Architects records a private or business address in Pretoria, South Africa from around the year 1923 to Walker. (3) Hugh Walker was born in Partick on the 24th September 1901 to Elizabeth (née Leslie) and Thomas Mitchell Walker, a school teacher. He attended The Glasgow School of Art from 1920 to 1921 and also from 1925 to 1926 as a part time student of drawing and painting whilst also working as an apprentice ship draughtsman. During the First World War, it is possible that Walker served as a private in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders battalion. After the war, Walker worked with Alexander Stephen and Sons and became a naval architect. He also served in the Second World War, looking after the Small Vessels Pool. Walker became a founding member of the RNVR Club in Glasgow and had a varied working life though did not exhibit artwork. Walker died on the 26th June 2001 in Glasgow, at almost 100 years old. A Hugh Walker is commemorated on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

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Sources: Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/; The National Archives: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/; the Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J M McEwan; Ancestry: http://www.ancestry.co.uk; A detailed

Source documenting the life of the third Hugh Walker listed can be found in The Herald here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12176933.Hugh_Walker/; The Gazette: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/29295/page/9101/data.pdf; The Dictionary of Scottish Architects: http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/

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