Background
He was the son of the painter Johan Baptist Walvis who moved from Antwerp to Utrecht in the year of his birth, and Bernardina van Aller.
He was the son of the painter Johan Baptist Walvis who moved from Antwerp to Utrecht in the year of his birth, and Bernardina van Aller.
He studied philosophy and theology in Leuven before moving to the Hague, where he became chaplain of bij pastoor January Hooft.
In 1688 he replaced Jacob Catz (1639-1712) as pastor of Gouda, who had been called to Utrecht to assist Petrus Codde. In Gouda Walvis wrote his Description of Gouda, which was published the year of his death. He was accused of Jansenism.
According to Houbraken he mentioned that the father of Anthony van Dyck was a stained glass painter of Den Bosch.
In 1713 he was appointed as a member of the vicariate council (Metropolitan Chapter) of Utrecht.