Background
Walker was a younger son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, 1st Baronet, a wealthy brewer born in Ayrshire who expanded the family business to England and moved to live in Gateacre, Liverpool, by his wife Eliza Reid of Limekilns, Fife.
Walker was a younger son of Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, 1st Baronet, a wealthy brewer born in Ayrshire who expanded the family business to England and moved to live in Gateacre, Liverpool, by his wife Eliza Reid of Limekilns, Fife.
He was the younger brother of John Reid Walker. A lover of horses, Walker was a polo player and in 1895 built stables near Liverpool for his polo ponies at what is now known as Grange Mews. Although he began racing horses, he is best remembered as a breeder and the person who introduced English racing to the Aga Khan III. As an owner his most memorable victory was that of The Soarer in the 1896 Grand National.
Irish National Study
In 1900, Walker purchased the lands around Tully, Kildare town in County Kildare where he established a highly successful stud farm.
Between the years 1906 and 1910, he created a Japanese garden that is acclaimed as the finest of its kind in Europe and today is a major tourist attraction. In 1916, Walker gifted his stud to the British Government for the purpose of founding a British National Study.
In 1943, the newly formed Irish Government acquired the property and the Irish National Study Company Limited. was formed. Currently, the Irish National Study property consists of 958 acres (388 km2) and is home to some of Ireland"s leading stallions.
The National Study
In 1916, Walker gifted his entire bloodstock to the British government with the idea of creating a National Study.
As part of the arrangement, the government acquired his stud farm in Ireland that became the basis for both the Irish National Study and The National Study of the United Kingdom now located in Newmarket. Wavertree House at the National Study and its Wavertree Charitable Trust is named in Walker"s memory. In 1999, the Racing Post ranked him at number 24 on its list of Top 100 Makers of 20th Century Horse Racing.
Walker"s father was not an art collector but donated the Walker Art Gallery to the city of Liverpool.
He would acquire a substantial collection of his own, among them the painting View of Killarney with the Passage to the Upper Lake by William Ashford, one of Ireland"s leading landscape artists. In 1933, he bequeathed the Walker Art Gallery a sizeable part of his paintings collection plus £20,000 to help the museum with its renovations.
In addition, he donated a number of paintings from his collection of sporting art to The National Study which are on display at Wavertree House. He served until resigning on 18 August 1919.
On 27 October 1919 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Wavertree, of Delamere in the County of Chester.
On his death in 1933, the barony became extinct. He was also appointed a deputy lieutenant of Lancashire in June 1910. In his honor, the Lord Wavertree Cup is offered in English FA football.
27th United Kingdom Parliament. 28th United Kingdom Parliament. 29th United Kingdom Parliament.
30th United Kingdom Parliament.
31st United Kingdom Parliament]
In 1900, Walker was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Widnes.