Thomas Walker

Thomas Walker (5 February 185810 May 1932) was an English-born Australian politician, a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and the Western Australian Legislative Assembly.

Early life Walker was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, the son of corn miller and merchant Thomas Walker, and Ellen (née Eccles). He was educated at Leyland Grammar School, then worked as a schoolteacher at Preston for two years. He later spent some time in Toledo, Ohio, where he spent 1876 lecturing on evolution and the occult. The following year he toured through New South Wales, England and South Africa, lecturing on spiritualism and politics.

Walker returned to Australia in 1882, spending some time in Victoria before settling in New South Wales. He became a prominent public figure through his political lectures, in which he argued for secularism and an immediate separation of New South Wales from England. In February 1885 he played a prominent role in a meeting held to discuss British government policy towards the Pacific Islands, and shortly afterwards he was involved in opposing the deployment of New South Wales troops to the Sudan.

Some time after 1894, Walker visited New Zealand, where he taught elocution, promoted temperance, lectured on various subjects, and wrote for the press. This article is generally believed to have contributed to O'Connor's suicide.

Western Australian politics On 27 October 1905, Walker was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Kanowna on a Labor ticket. He held the seat until his death over 25 years later. From around 1906 he began studying law, and in 1911 was admitted to the Western Australian bar. He was a member of the Senate of the University of Western Australia from 1912 to 1916.

When the Labor party won government under John Scaddan on 7 October 1911, Walker was appointed Minister for Justice and Education, and Attorney General. He held both portfolios until the Scaddan government's defeat on 27 July 1916. He was Speaker of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 24 July 1924 to 29 July 1930.

Personal life and death Walker had 4 children with his wife Andrietta Maria Somers, who he married in 1881. He died at Inglewood on , and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery.