Thomas James Walker (1835–1916): Surgeon and general practitioner

Abstract

Thomas James Walker was a surgeon and general practitioner who worked in the city of Peterborough at a time when there were changes and innovations in the practice of medicine. After training in medicine and surgery at Edinburgh University, he qualified in London in 1857. He was a pioneer of laryngoscopy. He played an important role in introducing antiseptic surgery to the Peterborough Infirmary and was instrumental in the development of the operating theatre which opened in 1894. He was a philanthropist and collector of Roman and Saxon artefacts. In 1915, he was recognized as an outstanding member of the Peterborough community when he was offered the Freedom of the City.

Keywords

Surgeon general practitioner laryngology operating theatre Freedom of the City

Introduction

The nineteenth century was a time of innovation and change for surgical and medical practice in England. In 1815, the Apothecaries Act had resulted in a plan for medical reform including the introduction of a medical qualification – the examination for the Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries (LSA). The scene was set for improving standards of medical care and the evolution of the general practitioner. The would-be surgeon-apothecary (surgeon-general practitioner) required both the LSA and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS) qualifications as evidence of having reached a satisfactory standard of medical training. In 1847, James Young Simpson (1811–1870) discovered chloroform anaesthesia, assisting the development of surgical practice, and in 1865, Joseph Lister pioneered the use of antiseptic surgery. By the 1860s, Thomas Spencer Wells (1818–1897), a pioneer of abdominal surgery, was advocating the operation of ovariotomy for the treatment of ovarian disease. The Medical Act of 1858 established the General Medical Council to regulate the profession and to supervise medical examination leading to admission to the medical register. Thomas James Walker (Figure 1) was a surgeon-general practitioner who practised in Peterborough and the surrounding area from 1860 to 1916. He witnessed the early regulation of the profession and the developments and changes in surgical and general practice in the nineteenth century and he implemented the new ideas that were emerging in his clinical practice.

Figure 1.

Dr Thomas James Walker c.1910. Reproduced by kind permission of Vivacity-Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.

The Walker family

Walker was born in Westgate, Peterborough in August 1835. He was one of eight children. He was descended from John Knox the Scottish reformer and a long line of ministers eminent in the Church of Scotland. His grandfather, Josiah Walker (1761–1831), was Professor of Humanity at the University of Glasgow. His father, Thomas Walker (1796–1886), trained in medicine and surgery in Edinburgh, Paris and London achieving the LSA qualification in 1820.^1–3 He worked as a surgeon-apothecary in Peterborough and he was appointed surgeon to the Peterborough Infirmary in 1819. Walker’s mother, Mary Isabella Jenkins (1807–1899), was the daughter of Edward Jenkins, the headmaster of a school at Thorpe Hall in Peterborough between 1809 and 1829. His elder brother, Josiah William Walker (1833–1913), lived in Australia for 14 years before returning to England in 1860. He then trained in medicine in Edinburgh qualifying in 1869 and subsequently practised as a doctor in Peckham Rye.^4,5

Walker grew up in the city of Peterborough where he attended the King's School from 1843 to 1852.⁶ At that time, the school was located in the Cathedral Precincts. Latin and Greek were taught at the school, and knowledge of these languages would have been useful when pursuing his medical career.

In 1865, Walker married his first cousin, Mary Elizabeth Walker (1844–1915). Her father was Reverend Josiah Walker (1805–1882), Vicar of Wood Ditton in Cambridgeshire. They had 15 children and two died before the age of 5. It does appear that Mary was very supportive to her husband, raising their children and supporting the local community. Four of Walker’s sons became doctors and three of them worked with him in the family general practice in his later years and were also surgeons at the Infirmary. Walter Walker (1867–1932), the eldest son joined the practice in 1895, retiring in 1905 because of poor eyesight. Robert Alexander Walker (1875–1954) joined the practice in 1903 retiring in 1949 and Josiah Walker (1883–1959) joined in 1913, retiring in 1958. Russell Walker (1887–1931) was a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps in the First World War and did not work in the family practice until after the death of his father.

The first family home, located in Westgate, central Peterborough, was demolished in 1890 and new stone residences were erected at 33 and 35 Westgate. It was from these buildings that the general practice service was provided. When the properties came up for sale in 1923, 33 Westgate (which was the residence for Robert Walker) was noted to have two consulting rooms and a waiting room on the ground floor.⁷ At this time, the general practice service was run from 35 Westgate until the building was demolished in the early 1960s, and all that now remains of number 33 is the front façade.

In 1900, a stained glass window was placed in the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Peterborough by Walker and his siblings in memory of their father and mother. The window comprises four tablets with the names of William Harvey (1578–1657), Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), Edward Jenner (1749–1823) and Joseph Lister (1827–1912), reflecting the importance of these doctors to medicine in the nineteenth century.

Qualifications and training

Walker trained in medicine and surgery at Edinburgh University from 1853 to 1857. His tutors included eminent and influential members of the Edinburgh medical establishment. He was taught anatomy and physiology by Professor John Goodsir (1814–1867),⁸ midwifery by James Young Simpson (1811–1870), therapeutics by Robert Christison (1797–1882) and attended botany classes with John Hutton Balfour (1808–1884). Although he did his medical training in Edinburgh, he took his examinations in London. He qualified in 1857 with MB, LSA and MRCS. To pass the LSA examination, he had to provide evidence of the lectures he had attended and that he had worked as an apothecary for five years. He also needed to have two testimonials of moral character.⁹ These were provided by his father and Mr F. Marshall (1817–1874), a Canon at the Cathedral and a Governor at the Infirmary.¹⁰ He obtained the MD (doctor of medicine) qualification in 1861.

Laryngologist

After qualifying Walker became resident medical tutor and demonstrator in anatomy at Queen’s College Birmingham in 1858. He was subsequently appointed assistant physician and pathologist at the Queen’s Hospital.¹¹ In 1860, he resigned from his post at the Queen’s Hospital with the intention of joining his father in practice. However, before doing this, he spent six months studying laryngology in Vienna with Johann Czermak (1828–1873). Czermak was a pioneer of the use of the laryngoscope in clinical practice. Walker was able to observe his technique and that of his pupils, Friedrich Semelder (1832–1901) and Carl Stoerck (1832–1899). In 1864, Stoerck became the first lecturer in laryngology and rhinology in Vienna.^12–14

In 1861, Walker was the first to describe the removal of a laryngeal polyp with the aid of a laryngoscope in England.¹⁵ His suggestions on the design of the apparatus used to concentrate light for laryngoscopy and the instrument to remove laryngeal polyps, which he called an écraseur were referred to by Mackenzie and Johnson in 1866 and 1868, respectively.^16,17 On his return from Vienna, Walker wrote a series of six papers which were published in the British Medical Journal. These papers constituted a complete manual of laryngoscopy. Walker describes the practice of laryngoscopy, the instruments used, the appearance of the normal larynx and how to use the laryngoscope for examination.^{13,14,18–20} In the final paper, Walker discussed seven clinical cases.²¹ He considered that accurate observations could be made with a laryngoscope and it was simpler to use than the stethoscope and opthalmoscope. In 1882, Richard Quain (1816–1898) produced the Dictionary of Medicine. Walker was invited to write the section on the laryngoscope and diseases of the larynx and trachea.^22–24 He was Vice President of the Laryngological Society of London and Secretary of the Throat Section of the International Medical Congress in 1881.²⁵

General surgeon

When Walker returned to Peterborough, he worked as a general practitioner and developed his skill as a general surgeon. In 1862, he was appointed surgeon to the Peterborough Infirmary taking over the post held by his father.²⁶

By 1876, the population of Peterborough was increasing as indicated by the census data, and Walker and his father needed an additional doctor to assist them in their growing practice.^27,28 They contacted Edinburgh University and were put in contact with Dr George Kirkwood (1853–1916) who became a partner in the practice and a surgeon at the Infirmary. Kirkwood had trained when Lister was promoting antiseptic surgery and advances in surgical treatment were taking place. Kirkwood was a valuable friend and colleague to Walker, and their professional partnership lasted for 40 years.²⁹

Walker was at the forefront of surgical developments of his time, performing his first ovariotomy at the Infirmary in 1868. He records the successful outcome of the operation on a 22-year-old with a large ovarian tumour. He contrasts this with the ‘agonizing illness’ of another patient with advanced ovarian disease who was admitted for ‘relief by tapping’ when the disease was too advanced for an ovariotomy. He considered the operation of ovariotomy to be ‘perhaps the greatest triumph of modern surgery, rescuing the patient from certain and rapid death, enabling her to re-enter upon life in a state of perfect health’.³⁰

The types and outcomes of operations (in effect surgical audits) were presented at the annual meeting of Governors and recorded by Walker and his colleagues in the Infirmary Annual Reports. For example, in 1884, operations for hypertrophied tonsils and tumours were common. There were a significant number of traumatic injuries requiring surgical management. A total of 105 cases of hernia were recorded, and of these, 99 were provided with ‘trusses and other apparatus’ suggesting that surgery was only undertaken if considered necessary.³¹

In the nineteenth century, abdominal operations were generally avoided because there was a high risk of infection and bleeding. In a paper entitled ‘Cases of Abdominal Surgery’, Walker discusses the outcome of 10 cases where the abdominal cavity was opened for surgical treatment.³² Five of the cases were ovariotomy operations and one of these was carried out in the patient’s home. He indicates that for surgical procedures, he limited the number of assistants and excluded spectators who might increase the risk of infection. He took precautions to reduce the risk of himself being a source of infection and asked his colleagues to adopt similar measures. However, he does not explain what his specific precautions were. Nevertheless, he employed Joseph Lister’s (1827–1912) antiseptic techniques in his practice, operating under carbolic spray and used carbolic solutions and carbolic gauze dressings. He also mentions the use of a drainage tube for putrid discharge.³²

Walker was one of the first surgeons in England to perform a gastro-jejunostomy. He outlines his procedure for gastroenterostomy on a patient with pyloric cancer mentioning the palliative benefit of this treatment. He acknowledges that while surgery may not halt the progression or cure the disease, it may improve the quality of life, although life expectancy remained uncertain.³³

Having worked as a pathologist in 1858, Walker was aware of the diagnostic value of pathological examination. He reports the case of an 11-year-old boy with gross abdominal distension who died during the administration of an enema. Post-mortem examination revealed that the cause of death was not due to obstruction as had been suspected. Tissues samples which were sent to a pathologist in Cambridge revealed chronic inflammation due to a colitis.³⁴ This might now be recognized as inflammatory bowel disease.

Operating theatre

Surgical operations at the Peterborough Infirmary were originally carried out in the surgeon’s consulting room on the ground floor, which was across the corridor from the surgical wards and near the outpatient waiting area. The surgical wards were located close to the main entrance and this was convenient for the admission of patients with traumatic injuries.

In 1892, Walker secured funding for a purpose built operating theatre at the Infirmary from two donors.³⁵ A new storey was constructed for this purpose and access from the ground floor for the patients was provided by a lift. A special ambulance carriage was used to convey patients from the wards on the ground floor to the theatre. The room had a skylight and gas lamps and windows for ventilation and light. The floors and walls were tiled for ease of cleaning. The aim appears to have been to improve the conditions for operating and to promote antiseptic surgery. A room adjoining the operating theatre was subsequently converted into a four-bedded recovery ward.

General practice

When working in a General Practice setting, Walker kept notes on his clinical consultations.³⁶ Patients would attend his Westgate Practice or he would visit them in their homes. He was involved in dealing with general medical problems, maternity care and treating cancer patients and some of those who were terminally ill. He prescribed commonly used treatments. For example, anaemia was treated with iron preparations, salicylate was prescribed for rheumatic pains and digitalis for heart conditions.

His notebooks, covering a period of more than forty years (1871–1915), give a fascinating insight into the day-to-day practice of a surgeon/general practitioner. In 1875, he records in his notebook, the case of a 30-year-old farmer who died from erysipelas, following what was considered to have been a trivial operation to remove a cyst from the cheek. The treatment of infections was challenging in his day and the outcome could be fatal. It is interesting to note that champagne was recommended as a treatment option for delirium which occurred with the progression of the infection, probably because of its sedative effects. He shows evidence of reflection on his clinical practice when he makes reference in his notebook to four similar cases of fatal Streptococcal infection of the head and face over a period of 18 months.

Walker considered the possibility of carrying out an investigation in the surgery setting. He thought that testing the urine of a diabetic patient for its sugar content could be of practical value and liaised with a chemist on a method for estimating the quantity of sugar in the urine of a glycosuric patient. He describes the method and indicates that the urine can be tested in 3–6 minutes by the busy practitioner.³⁷ However, he does not mention whether or not he used the test to diagnose diabetes.

Sharing experience

Walker maintained his skills and knowledge in medicine and surgery by reading medical journals and becoming involved in medical societies. He wrote articles for The Lancet and British Medical Journal and shared his views and experience on the management of medical and surgical conditions. For example, in an article on hospital practice in 1863, he describes three unusual surgical cases: a unilateral sternomastoid swelling in a one-month old child which disappeared with time (probably a sternomastoid tumour of infancy); a 14-year-old boy with a bladder stone which fractured and was passed spontaneously; and the unexpected survival of a 29-year-old fireman involved in a railway accident who sustained severe head injuries and compound comminuted fractures of both feet requiring above ankle amputations.³⁸ Another example of Walker sharing experience and learning from his clinical practice relates to the use of opium in the treatment of strangulated hernia. He wrote an article suggesting that in early cases, rapidly acting subcutaneous opium should be used in preference to oral preparations. He noted that this might relieve the pain and allow reduction of the hernia, thus avoiding the ‘danger of an operation’. However, he points out that there can be a risk in delaying surgical treatment and that conservative treatment is not always successful.³⁹

In the nineteenth century, syphilis was treated with mercury. Based on his experience, Walker recommended that the lowest possible dose should be used because of the toxic side effects.⁴⁰ Furthermore, he suggested that trials of treatment were necessary for accurate statistical deductions.⁴¹

After reading an article on pental (sodium thiopental) anaesthesia published in The Lancet by the Society of Anaesthetists, Walker noted that the mortality from the use of pental was greater than that from the use of chloroform. In a letter published in The Lancet, he questioned the use of pental and explained that he had seen chloroform used in several thousand operations and that there had been only one death.⁴²

In 1865, Walker described his treatment of angular curvature of the spine due to Pott’s disease (tuberculosis of the spine) with a gutta-percha mould.⁴³ This was a rigid jacket applied in the recumbent position to promote ankylosis. The use of a plaster-of-Paris jacket was subsequently suggested for treatment of angular curvature of the spine.⁴⁴ Walker adopted the use of a plaster-of-Paris jacket and his method of application was outlined and discussed at a meeting of the Medical Society of London in 1878.⁴⁵

Walker wrote a paper entitled ‘On the Clinical Significance of Colourless or Clay-Coloured Stools Unaccompanied by Jaundice and their connection with Disease of the Pancreas’ in 1888.⁴⁶ This paper is another example of Walker reviewing the medical literature and on this occasion also the work of the French physiologist Claude Bernard (1813–1878). He presents the clinical symptoms for two cases in addition to the post-mortem findings to support his conclusions. His paper was read at a meeting of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London in 1889, generating an interesting discussion which raised the issue as to whether or not the conclusions which he had drawn were in fact correct.⁴⁷

Dr William Playfair was the Professor of Obstetric Medicine at King’s College Hospital. Walker had discussed his method for siphon drainage of the chest with Playfair and the full details of his method had been published in a paper by Playfair entitled ‘On the Treatment of Empyema in Children’.⁴⁸ Walker’s method had been generally adopted following the discussion which ensued. He was therefore dismayed to read that the method had been credited to Gothard Bülau (1835–1900), a German surgeon.⁴⁹ He ended a letter published in the British Medical Journal with the words ‘Palman qui meruit ferat’ – ‘Let him who has earned it, bear the palm’.⁵⁰

A citizen of Peterborough

Walker was an influential member of the Peterborough community. He was involved in politics supporting the Liberal Unionists in 1886. He was actively involved in the general election of that year when William John Wentworth Fitzwilliam was elected MP.⁵¹ In his diary which covers the period 1862–1868, he records his regular attendance at the Cathedral and at the masonic lodge where he was installed master in 1862 for the following year and then again in 1865.⁵² He was personally involved in raising funds for the Infirmary. For example, he organized the Town and Country Ball in 1862 for this purpose.⁵³ He was known to be a generous contributor to all charities and most institutions in the city and philanthropically devoting time to those less fortunate than himself.⁵⁴

Public health issues were a concern in the nineteenth century. In 1881, some of the residents in two streets in Peterborough had died from typhoid fever. There was concern about the risk of waterborne infection. It appeared that there might be a problem with the main drainage system because water was known to leak into basements of some houses. Walker presented a petition from the owners and occupiers in the streets affected to the council, which had at least 50 signatures, supporting the concerns of his fellow citizens and requesting that the drainage system be improved.⁵⁵

In 1860, Walker joined the Rifle Volunteer Corps as a private and rose to be a lieutenant colonel. There were regular parades and Walker was usually present. Encouragement of rifle shooting was one of his particular interests. In 1892, he was awarded the Volunteer Officers’ Decoration in recognition of his contribution to the Volunteer forces.⁵⁶

Walker supported the adoption of the Public Library Act 1866 and was involved in establishing the public library in Peterborough in 1892.⁵⁷ He was a member of the Library Committee from its inception and advised on the purchase of books and made donations of books. He was also one of the founders and Chairman of the Peterborough School of Art.⁵⁸ Professional duties prevented Walker becoming Mayor or a member of the town council, but in 1875, he was created Justice of the Peace.

Walker had an interest in archaeology and he was the local secretary of the British Archaeological Society when the Congress was held in Peterborough in 1862. He was a collector of Saxon and Roman relics and other antiquities from the Peterborough area and was an expert on Roman remains found in the district. He joined the Peterborough Natural History and Archaeological Society in 1880. He gave lectures to the society and the local community on the Roman and Saxon Occupation of Peterborough. In 1898, he presented two papers at the Congress of the British Archaeological Association in Peterborough.^59,60 He was a trustee of the first museum in Peterborough to which he donated some of his personal collection.

Later years

Walker retired from his surgical post at the Peterborough Infirmary in 1906, at the age of 70. However, he continued to work in his general practice and as a Consulting Surgeon. In 1908, he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1913, he wrote a book entitled, ‘The Depot for Prisoners of War at Norman Cross’, describing the life of French Prisoners taken captive in Napoleonic Wars. A review published in the British Medical Journal considered the book to be a ‘monument of painstaking skill’.⁶¹ In the foreword, Walker records that the information collected was based on the recollections of the old people (suggesting that oral histories were taken), and old newspaper files as well as research carried out at the British Library and in the Public Record Office and other repositories of information. He acknowledges the role of Mr A Rhodes who was actively involved in the research work which was undertaken explaining that he himself did not have much time to carry out the research because of his commitment to his clinical work.⁶²

At a meeting of the Peterborough Town Council in June 1915, it was decided to confer the Freedom of the City on Walker on the occasion of his 80th birthday.⁶³ He was presented with a scroll in a casket made out of old oak beams from the Cathedral (Figure 2). The carvings on the casket included four buildings: the Guildhall, the West front of the Cathedral, the Infirmary and his former house in Westgate; Aesculapius (the Greek God of Medicine); a feminine figure representing literature; and a colonel’s sabre and attaché with sword and crossed rifles.⁶⁴

Figure 2.

The Casket. Reproduced by kind permission of Mrs Rita McKenzie.

As a testimony to the esteem and affection in which Walker was held by the people of Peterborough, George Fiddes Watt A.R.S.A. (1873–1960) was commissioned to paint his portrait. There were 750 subscribers. At the presentation, Bishop Lewis Clayton (1838–1917) paid tribute to Walker’s versatility and genuine qualities.⁶⁵

Walker was attended in his last illness by his son Robert. His death certificate indicates that he died from chronic cystitis, nephritis and uraemia.⁶⁶ His death was reported in the local newspapers, the Cambridgeshire Times and a number of cities including Aberdeen and Newcastle.^67–69 At his funeral, there were 16 coaches in the cortege and his Parish Church of St John the Baptist was filled to capacity. He was buried in Broadway Cemetery in Peterborough. A commemorative plaque was subsequently placed in the Parish Church below a stained glass window in memory of his wife who had died in 1915.

The Greek inscription on his grave is ‘ΑΓΝΟΕΩ ΗΜΑΡTΚΑ ΠΙΣTΕϒΩ’. Translated this means ‘I do not know I have sinned I trust’. These words would appear to reflect his genuine nature, honesty perhaps in his clinical practice (no one can know everything) and his Christian beliefs.

Conclusion

Thomas James Walker appears to have been practising medicine and surgery to a high standard for his time and aiming to maintain his skills and knowledge in medicine and surgery in a way which would be highly commended today. He developed a skill in laryngology and surgery. He introduced antisepsis to his surgical practice and undertook abdominal operations when appropriate, recognizing that surgery was not without risk. There is evidence that he reflected on his clinical practice and he showed a willingness to share his knowledge and experience with his colleagues writing many papers which were published in medical journals. He reviewed the outcomes of surgical treatment with his colleagues, so promoting an early form of clinical audit. He was aware of the value of clinical trials when deciding on treatment and the importance of the connection between clinical symptoms and post-mortem and histology findings in learning about illness and disease.

In addition to his commitment to his professional practice, Walker actively supported his local community and developed his interest in archaeology. 1n 1915, he was given the Freedom of the City of Peterborough in recognition of his services to the community.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I am grateful for the advice from Dr John Ford and Christopher Derrett at Apothecaries Hall, London; Glenys Wass at Vivacity-Peterborough Museum and Art; Richard Hunt, Anna Sexton and their colleagues at Vivacity-Peterborough Local Studies and Archives and Liz St Hill Davies, former senior curator at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and / or publication of this article.

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. The administration of pental. Lancet 1896; 14: 950–950. (www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(01)60893-6 (accessed 29 March 2015)).

43.

Walker

. The treatment of angular curvature of the spine by gutta-percha mould. Lancet 1877; 110: 7–8. (www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(02)48185-8/abstract?cc=y (accessed 20 August 2015)).

44.

Walker

. Treatment of the angular curvature of the spine by a plaster-of-Paris jacket applied in the recumbent posture. British Medical Journal 1879; 1: 305–307. (www.bmj.com/content/1/948/305.full (accessed 14 January 2016)).

45.

Reports of Societies. Medical Society of London: Treatment of spinal curvature by the plaster-of-paris jacket. British Medical Journal 1878; 2: 834–834. (www.bmj.com/content/2/936/834.full (accessed 10 April 2015)).

46.

Walker

. On the clinical significance of colourless or clay-coloured stools unaccompanied by jaundice, and their connection with disease of the pancreas; and of the part played by the pancreas in eliminating bile from the intestine. Medico-Chirurgical Transactions 1889; 72: 257–273. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2121540/pdf/medcht00020-0356.pdf (accessed 12 April 2015)).

47.

Discussion of the paper: On the Clinical Significance of Colourless or Clay-Coloured Stools Unaccompanied by Jaundice, and their connection with Disease of the Pancreas; and of the part played by the pancreas in eliminating bile from the intestine. Proceedings of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London 1889; 3rd Series, i: 97–103.

48.

Playfair

. On the treatment of empyema in children. Transactions of the Obstetrical Society of London, London: Longmans, Green & Co, 1873, pp. 4–18.

49.

Supplement to the British Medical Journal. A weekly epitome of current medical literature (337). Siphon Drainage in Tuberculous Empyema. British Medical Journal 1891; 1: 31, http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/1/1583/E137.full.pdf (accessed 15 March 2015).

50.

Walker

. Siphon drainage of the chest. British Medical Journal 1891; 1: 1098–1098. (http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/1/1585/1098.4.full.pdf (accessed 15 March 2015)).

51.

Death of Dr Walker. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 22 July 1916, p.7.

52.

Diary (1862–1868), Thomas James Walker, Vivacity-Peterborough Libraries & Archives (accession No. 2011/04).

53.

Peterborough Town and Country Ball. The Cambridgeshire Chronicle and University Journal, Isle of Ely Herald and Huntingdonshire Gazette, 11 January 1862, p.5.

54.

Peterborough to honour Dr TJ Walker J.P. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 19 June 1915, p.7.

55.

Drainage of Queen Street and St John Street. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 2 July 1881, p.6.

56.

Volunteer Officer’s Decorations. The Northampton Mercury. 18 November 1892, p.4. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000317/18921118/053/0004 (accessed 11 January 2016).

57.

Meeting of the Peterborough Public Library Committee 14 August 1916. Death of Dr Walker. Peterborough Public Library Minutes (No. 31504); 4: 129.

58.

School of Art Chairmanship. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 22 June 1901, p.5.

59.

Walker

. The traces of the Roman occupation left in Peterborough and the surrounding district. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 1899; 5: 51–62.

60.

Walker

. Notes on two Anglo-Saxon burial places at Peterborough. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 1899; 5: 343–349.

61.

Reviews: Prisoners of war. British Medical Journal 1914; 1: 822–823. www.bmj.com/content/bmj/1/2780/820.full (accessed 15 March 2015).

62.

Walker TJ. The depot for prisoners of war at Norman cross Huntingdonshire 1796–1816. 1st ed. London: Constable & Co, 1913, www.gutenberg.org/files/43487/43487-h/43487-h.htm (accessed 29 March 2015).

63.

Council Minutes 29 June 1915. City of Peterborough Council Minutes 1913–1919 (PAS/PCC/6/1/7): 92–93.

64.

A Person of Distinction. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 21 August 1915, p.7.

65.

Dr Walker’s Portrait. The Peterborough and Hunts Standard, 25 December 1915, p.5.

66.

Death Certificate 1916. Thomas James Walker. General Register Office. www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates (accessed 19 October 2014).

67.

The Late Dr Walker: an impressive funeral. The Cambridgeshire Times, 28 July 1916, p.6.

68.

Obituary, Dr T. J Walker. Aberdeen Daily Journal, 22 July 1916, p.6. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000576/19160722/127/0006 (accessed 11 January 2016).

69.

General Home News. Newcastle Daily Journal, 22 July 1916, p.4, http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000569/19160722/009/0004 (accessed 11 January 2016).