B128 - Charles Frederick Thomas Walker, 1937

Charles Frederick Thompson Walker was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England on 4 Nov. 1895, the 2nd child of Charles and Elizabeth Ann (born Garrett) Walker. He became known as “Tom” to his family and friends.

Tom was educated at local schools in Harrogate, Yorkshire and in South East London. He left school at age 15, in 1910, to work as a “Junior” in Fleet Street, London. As soon as he was able he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, based on the H.M.S. President, and soon afterwards was transferred to the Royal Naval Division as an ordinary seaman. He was promoted rapidly, having attained the rank of “Warrant Officer”. A short time later he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service as a Sub-Lieutenant, where he flew as a Navigator/Bomb-Aimer, initially at Manston, Kent.

While Charles (Tom) was at Manston he met and married Marion Blakey at the Registry Office of Kent County, in Oct. 1916. Marion was born on 21 Sept. 1897, the daughter of Joseph William and Ruth Blakey. Tom and Marion had four children:-

See separate biographies for Christopher, Patricia and Martin Walker.

Soon after Tom’s marriage he was sent overseas to the Middle East and flew seaplanes out of a base in the Suez, both down the Red Sea and up the coast of Palestine and the Dardanelles. By mid 1918 he was back at Manston, followed by a period in the Firth of Forth where he started writing for Naval magazines and in fact covered the surrender of the German Fleet after the Armistice was declared.

Following the 1st World War, Tom became a journalist and joined Sketco, a Swedish firm at Bedford, as a writer. He then became an Editor of “Advertiser’s Weekly”, an aircraft magazine in London. At the same time he acted as the London Representative for the Swedish Tourist Office and the Swedish Press Bureau. In collaboration with John Gloag he wrote “Home Life in History”,published in 1927. Following this, Tom became a copywriter for the London Press Exchange, and finally for Lintas-Levers International Advertising Service, a subsidiary of Unilever. In the 1930’s he established Unilever’s first Market Research Unit, first in London, then in Berlin, Holland and finally in India in 1938. Tom is mentioned (as Thompson Walker) quite extensively in a book entitled “Beyond Punjab” by Prakash Tandon (1971).

Early during World War II, about 1940, Tom was engaged in setting up food rationing regulations, associated with the Ministry of Food, in England. In 1941 his health finally succumbed to multiple sclerosis and he was forced to retire. Although during his retirement Tom became a keen naturalist, in his earlier days he had been a good athlete, having participated quite actively in field hockey and with cricket teams.

Charles Frederick Thompson Walker of Filey, Yorkshire, died of a heart attack on 7 Jan. 1959, at age 63. He was buried in Hull. He had no pension and apparently left no Estate. His wife, Marion died in 1981 and was buried in Lowes Loft, Suffolk, England.

Sources

• Society of Friends Library, London, Eng.

• C.T. Walker, East Sussex, Eng.

• An account of “Tom’s” Navel Career.

• Patricia Walker, Herefordshire, Eng.

• Society of Friends Library, London, Eng.

By H.L. Walker - Rev.- 15 October, 2007