People on board

WALKER, Thomas

Thomas Walker was born in Darwen, near Blackburn in Lancashire in 1871 to William Walker and Betsy Kirkham, the eldest of their surviving five children, one other dying young. In the 1891 census they also had an adopted son, Henry Walker, born in Ashton under Lyme in Lancashire, in the family. Thomas Walker grew up the village of Darwen where he, his parents and some of his siblings worked as Cotton Weavers at different times.

In July 1899 he married Margaret Ann Stephenson, also a Weaver, and they had two children, William in 1900 and May in 1904. They lived in Mount Pleasant Street in Darwen and both Thomas and Margaret continued as Cotton Weavers. In the 1911 census one of her brothers, James Stephenson, lived with them.

According to one transcript of Thomas Walker’s military records he initially enlisted in the East Lancashire Regiment, Service Number 20123, though when he did is not known. He transferred to the Royal Defence Corps and in October 1918 he was with the 462nd Protection Company in Ireland. Presumably returning home on leave, he travelled on RMS Leinster on the 10th of October along with several other members of his Company. He did not survive the sinking but his body was recovered and he was buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin. His name is recorded on the Darwen Roll of Honour.