Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 3.djvu/587

 — the attorney-general John Naish not being a member of the House of Commons — was the acting Irish secretary till the appointment of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman [q. v. Suppl. II] to the chief secretaryship in 1884. In May 1885 Walker became attorney-general for Ireland, and was sworn of the Irish privy council, but within a few weeks the Gladstone administration resigned on a defeat in the House of Commons (8 June 1885). Walker for the remainder of the session was as assiduous in his attendance as when in office.

At the general election of 1885, the county of Londonderry being divided under the Redistribution Act into two divisions, each returning one member, Walker sought election for North Londonderry; but he was defeated by Henry Lyle Mulholland (second Lord Dunleath) on 1 Dec. 1885. A month earlier, at a banquet in the Ulster Hall, Belfast, at which the Marquis of Hartington (Duke of Devonshire [q. v. Suppl. II]) was present, and at which the term liberal unionist was invented, Walker was present and said: 'The liberals of Ireland will not permit the union to be tampered with, and any attempt in that direction, no matter by what party, will not be tolerated.' But when Gladstone's adoption of home rule split the liberal party, Walker cast in his lot with the Gladstonian liberals. On the appointment of Gladstone as prime minister on 6 Feb. 1886, Walker, though without a seat in the House of Commons, again filled the office of attorney-general for Ireland, and he held the post till the fall of Gladstone's third administration on 3 Aug. 1886. While the liberal party was in opposition (1886-92) Walker pursued with distinction his practice at the Irish bar, and took a prominent part in the meetings of the liberal party held in Dublin. He was defeated in his candidature for South Londonderry in July 1892. On the formation of Gladstone's fourth administration in August 1892, Walker was appointed to the lord chancellorship of Ireland. At a complimentary dinner of the members of his old circuit, Walker was designated by Mr. Justice Gibson as the greatest lawyer of the Irish bar. He fully sustained on the bench his reputation as a lawyer. His judgments were masterpieces in their application of legal principles controlled by common sense. A good example of his work is presented by his judgment in Clancarty v. Clancarty (31 L.R.J. 530), dealing with precatory trusts. He retired from the chancellorship on the fall of the liberal administration, on 8 July 1895. As lord chancellor he presided over the court of appeal in Ireland, and still remained as a lord justice of appeal a member of that court, though no longer its president. Although he received no salary, he was as unremitting in his judicial duties as any other member of that tribunal. He also went on several occasions on circuit as a commissioner of assize, with great satisfaction to the bar and the public. He was appointed in 1897 by Earl Cadogan, the unionist lord-lieutenant, to preside over the commission on the Irish fisheries. On the formation of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's administration. Walker was reappointed lord chancellor of Ireland on 14 Dec. 1905. He was then in his seventy-fourth year, but he held the great seal till his death on 13 Aug. 1911. He was created a baronet on 12 July 1906. He died in Dublin somewhat suddenly, and is buried in Mount Jerome cemetery.

Walker was below rather than above the medium height. He had finely chiselled features and clear grey eyes of great lustre. His memory was encyclopedic; and he recalled particulars of cases on the instant without apparent effort. In conversation he was entertaining, and his mots were often remarkable for their caustic wit and insight. Although devoted to legal studies, Walker enjoyed to the full the generous amusements of life. In his younger days he was an admirable shot, and all through life was an enthusiastic angler. His long vacations were generally spent in fishing in the lakes of Connemara, and he employed the same boatman for six-and-forty years.

Walker was twice married: (1) on 9 Oct. 1855 to Cecilia Charlotte (d. 18 June 1880), daughter of Arthur Greene, and niece of Richard Wilson Greene, baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer, by whom he had two sons and four daughters; (2) on 17 Aug. 1881 to Eleanor, daughter of the Rev. Alexander MacLaughlin, by whom he had a son and daughter. His eldest son. Sir Alexander Arthur Walker, second baronet, is secretary of the Local Marine Board, Dublin.

A photograph of Walker in his judicial robes, by Walton & Co., has been finely engraved.

 WALKER, VYELL EDWARD (1837–1906), cricketer, born at Southgate House, Southgate, on 20 April 1837, was fifth of seven sons of Isaac Walker of 