Orphan Number: 1212

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Sue Walker wrote:

Thomas was my great grandfather who sailed with his mother Ellen Crawfield (nee Foley) and his sister Mary Ann on the Sir Robert Seppings Convict ship in 1851. Ellen was sentenced to 7 years transportation for pickpocketing a lady in Leicester Square, London. She petitioned for her children to go with her as they would have had no one to look after them as their father, Thomas Crawfield [name may be incorrect as both Thomas and Mary Ann's death certificates had different first names] had died the year Thomas was born. The name Crawfield has also been recorded differently in some documents [Crawford and Caulfield] but most records found are under the name Crawfield. Thomas took on the name of his step father Robert Walker at some stage although his name on the births of his children appear as both Crawfield and Walker.

Ellen married Robert Walker in Tasmania and once she was free from servitude the family travelled to Ballarat.  Thomas worked as a tinsmith and married Mary Ann McNally on the 21st June 1880 at St Patrick's Cathedral in Ballarat. They had their first 2 sons, Thomas Henry, born 1883, and John Patrick, born 1885, while in the Ballarat area. The next 2 children were born in Queenscliff Victoria: Teresa Mary, born 1886, and Hubert Crawfield, born 1888 [my grandfather]. The next son, William Francis, was born in Ballarat in 1890 and their last child, Stella Marie was born in 1892 in Albert Park which is where the family lived until Thomas died.  Thomas started a plumbing company in 1894 opening a small shop in Park St, South Melbourne. The company became Thos Walker & Sons once the sons joined the business as plumbers.

On the 1st March 1910 Thomas was knocked down by a taxi cab while stepping off a tram in Victoria Avenue, Melbourne suffering severe injuries to his head and chest but died in Melbourne Hospital. He was buried in the Boroondara Cemetery the following day.

I do not have any photos of Thomas except one that I found on the Walker Fire Protection website [Thos Walker & Sons was acquired by A G Coombs back in the 1970s] They have updated their website and it is no longer there but I don't want to infringe any copyright laws but I am happy to send to descendents.

I also have various documents to evidence the above which I am happy to share. So far I have only found one other descendant [of John Patrick Walker].

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