gested by Gibbon to the editor, John Nichols, some time before, but Nichols could not find leisure for the task (Nichols, Lit. Anecd. viii. 557; Lit. Illustr. vol. viii. p. xi). Walker accomplished it with great judgment, and was rewarded by the sale of a thousand copies in a few months. A second edition, with an additional volume, appeared in 1811; and a third, also in four volumes, in 1814.
Walker made valuable researches in the archives of the Bodleian Library and of other university collections. In 1809 he brought out ‘Oxoniana’ (London, 4 vols. 12mo), consisting of selections from books and manuscripts in the Bodleian relating to university matters. This was followed in 1813 by ‘Letters written by Eminent Persons, from the Originals in the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum’ (London, 2 vols. 8vo). Both are works of value, and have been largely used by succeeding writers. Walker was one of the original proprietors of the ‘Oxford Herald,’ and for several years assisted in the editorial work.
In 1819 Walker was presented by the warden and fellows of New College to the vicarage of Hornchurch in Essex, and resided there during the rest of his life. He died at the vicarage on 5 April 1831.
Besides the works mentioned, he was the author of ‘Curia Oxoniensis; or Observations on the Statutes which relate to the University Court’ (3rd edit. Oxford, 1826, 8vo). He was the first editor of the ‘Oxford University Calendar,’ first published in 1810. An ‘auction catalogue of his library’ was published in 1831 (London, 8vo).
[Gent. Mag. 1831, i. 474; Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715–1886; Allibone's Dict. of English Lit.; Macray's Annals of the Bodleian Library, 1890.]
WALKER, JOHN (1768–1833), founder of the ‘Church of God,’ born in Roscommon in January 1768, was the son of Matthew Walker, a clergyman of the established church of Ireland. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, on 18 Jan. 1785, was chosen a scholar in 1788, graduated B.A. in 1790, was elected a fellow in 1791, and proceeded M.A. in 1796, and B.D. in 1800.
Walker was ordained a priest of the established church of Ireland. About 1803 he began to study the principles of Christian fellowship prevailing among the earliest Christians. Convinced that later departures were erroneous, he joined with a few others in an attempt to return to apostolic practices. Their doctrinal beliefs were those of the more extreme Calvinists, and they entirely rejected the idea of a clerical order. On 8 Oct. 1804 Walker, convinced that he could no longer exercise the functions of a clergyman of the Irish church, informed the provost of Trinity College, and offered to resign his fellowship. He was expelled on the day following. He was connected with a congregation of fellow-believers in Stafford Street, Dublin, and supported himself by lecturing on subjects of university study. After paying several visits to Scotland, he removed to London in 1819.
Walker was no mean scholar, and published several useful educational works. In 1833 the university of Dublin granted him a pension of 600l. as some amends for their former treatment of him. He returned to Dublin, and died on 25 Oct. of the same year. His followers styled themselves ‘the Church of God,’ but were more usually known as ‘Separatists,’ and occasionally as ‘Walkerites.’
Among Walker's publications were: 1. ‘Letters to Alexander Knox,’ Dublin, 1803, 8vo. 2. ‘An Expostulatory Address to Members of the Methodist Society in Ireland,’ 3rd ed. Dublin, 1804, 12mo. 3. ‘A Full and Plain Account of the Horatian Metres,’ Glasgow, 1822, 8vo. 4. ‘Essays and Correspondence,’ ed. W. Burton, London, 1838, 8vo. 5. ‘The Sabbath a Type of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ London, 1866, 8vo. He also edited: 1. Livy's ‘Historiarum Libri qui supersunt,’ Dublin, 1797–1813, 7 vols. 8vo; Dublin, 1862, 8vo. 2. ‘The First, Second, and Sixth Books of Euclid's Elements,’ Dublin, 1808, 8vo; first six books with a treatise on trigonometry, London, 1827, 8vo. 3. ‘Selections from Lucian,’ Glasgow, 1816, 8vo; 9th ed. Dublin, 1856, 12mo. For the opening of the Bethesda Chapel, Dorset Street, Dublin, on 22 June 1794, he wrote two hymns, one of which, ‘Thou God of Power and God of Love,’ has been included in several collections.
[Walker's Essays and Corresp. (with portrait), 1838; Madden's Memoir of Peter Roe, 1842; Wills's Irish Nation, iv. 452; Gent. Mag. 1833, ii. 540; Remains of Alexander Knox, 1835; Millennial Harbinger, September 1835; A Brief Account of the People called Separatists, Dublin, 1821; Julian's Dict. of Hymnology, 1892.]
WALKER, JOHN (1781?–1859), inventor of friction matches, was born at Stockton-on-Tees in 1780 or 1781. He was articled to Watson Alcock, the principal surgeon of the town, and served him as assistant-surgeon. He had, however, an insurmountable aversion from surgical operations, and in consequence turned his attention to chemistry. After studying at Durham and York, he set up a small business as chemist and druggist at 59 High Street,
