The Dallmeyer Archive

George Walker, Senior. 1838-1907

George Walker, Junior. 1869-1937

When I started creating the detailed indices for the stock books I very quickly became aware of the surname Walker, for it is found in every stock book from 1863 to 1902 and, in the later records, is listed as either Walker, senior, or Walker, junior.

After some searching of census records I eventually found George's name in the 1881 census, his occupation being listed as Photographic Lens maker. The census record for 1861 lists him as Telescope maker which makes me wonder whether George, senior, was inherited along with the telescope manufacturing section from Andrew Ross, Dallmeyer's father in law, in 1859.

George, Sr. is listed in every census up to and including 1901. George Jr. appears as Optical Brass Turner in 1891 and as Brass turner in the 1901 census.

Although no photographs of George senior seem to have survived, we are more fortunate with George Jr. in that Roger Walker,* in the 1980s, donated a number of photographs of George junior to the Brent Archive.

These photographs cover the last half of George junior's career and date from 1913 to some time in the 1930s.

The first picture dates from 1913 and shows George sitting on the left. The photograph was taken to mark the creation of an enormous portrait lens, twelve inches in diameter, twenty inches long and weighing over a hundred weight, with an aperture of f 4.2 and a focal length of some forty six inches, it was based on the patent portrait design. It is described in an article in the Amateur Photographer magazine of February 23rd, 1914. George was 43 years old at this time.

George, wearing an apron, we know is a 'turner', are the others respectively 'framer', 'finisher' and 'edger'? These are the terms which are used in the Stock Books to describe the workers involved in lens making.

The next one shows George, rather older, turning a brass lens barrel.

This was taken, I presume, some time in the 1920s.

The last picture of George on a Dallmeyer Works outing.

Probably taken in the 1930s, George, wearing a bowler hat, is sitting in the front seat of the bus.

* Grandson of George junior?

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