Place:Walker, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 UK census was 11,701.

Perhaps the most historic fact about Walker is contained in its name, which refers to Hadrian's Wall which passed along its northern edge. The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as Waucre. This means 'wall-carr', that is to say, 'the marsh by the Roman wall'. Hadrian's Wall is not visible in Walker today, although a small fragment can be seen in Shields Road in Byker to the west, and Segedunum fort is a major site at the end of the Wall in Wallsend to the east.

Large-scale coal-mining began in the area in the early 1700s, with up to ten collieries in operation in the Walker area. A wagon-way was constructed during this period to facilitate transportation of coal to the riverside staithes.

Walker used to have a large shipbuilding industry, particularly the yard of Armstrong Whitworth at High Walker, but this has declined over the past 50 years.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Walker from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"WALKER, a village, a township, and a chapelry, in Longbenton parish, Northumberland. The village stands on the river Tyne, near the Newcastle and Tynemouth railway, 3 miles E of Newcastle; carries on iron founding, iron ship building, copperas and alkali manufactory, and the shipment of coals; presents a blackened and disagreeable appearance; and has a post-office under Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a [railway] station, a church of 1848, and a [United] Presbyterian chapel of 1866.

"The township includes the village. Rated property in 1868: £24,000. Population in 1851: 3,963; in 1861: 6,473. Houses: 1,076.

"The chapelry is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1846. Population: 5,843. Houses: 966. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value: £300. Patron: alternately the Crown and the Bishop."

Walker was originally a township and chapelry in the ancient parish of Longbenton and created as a civil parish in 1894 and immediately became an urban district. In 1904 it was absorbed into Newcastle upon Tyne.

Research Tips

• Northumberland Archives previously known as Northumberland Collections Service and Northumberland County Record Office. Now based within Woodhorn Museum in Ashington and providing free access to numerous records for local and family historians alike.

Full postal address: Museum and Northumberland Archives, Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9YF; Phone: 01670 624455

There is a branch office in Berwick upon Tweed.

• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and County Durham. The Family History Society have a research centre in Percy House in central Newcastle upon Tyne (full address on website), open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1832 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time. This map includes the boundaries of the various Wards (or "hundreds") in existence at that time.
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.
• Unfortunately, there is no Victoria County History for Northumberland.