Weaste Cemetery

Biographies of people buried between 1940 & 49

Henry Walker (1855 - 1943)


Henry Walker was the Registrar of Weaste Cemetery and also of Agecroft Cemetery when it was opened in 1903. He was Salford's Registrar of Cemeteries from 1878, when he took over from his father William Henry Walker, until his retirement in February 1927.


He was born in Rochdale in 1855. His father was the Reverend William Henry Walker (born 1811 in Liverpool) who was a Wesleyan Methodist Minister and the Registrar at Weaste Cemetery. His mother was Helen (nee Rigby) Walker (born 1817 in Liverpool) The couple were married in Liverpool by Registrar in 1845. Henry came to Salford at the age of 2 in 1857 when Weaste Cemetery opened and his father was the first Registrar and Non-Conformist Chaplain. He lived at Weaste Cemetery Lodge until he retired.


Henry had 3 siblings, William (born 1836 in Liverpool) who became a commercial Clerk), Helen R (born 1851 in Manchester) and Arthur (born 1858 in Salford).


In 1879 Henry married Mary Bailey. She was born in 1859 in Salford. The 1891 census shows that they had two sons, Herbert aged 9 and Arthur aged 7. In 1901, the census shows that Hebert was a Cotton Warehouseman and Arthur was an Insurance Clerk. Henry also had a daughter Alice born in 1892, aged 9. In 1902, Henry's wife Mary died aged just 43 and he married again in 1907 to Ada Margaret Clarkson in Oldham by Registrar. They had four children George, Muriel, Cyril and Margaret.


Henry retired in February 1927. In honour of his forty eight and a half years service, Alderman Frederick Hampson, Chairman of the Cemeteries Committee sponsored a special dinner at the Masonic Hall on the Crescent, Salford. The Mayor, Alderman John Rothwell, proposing the toast, said there was no other official of the Corporation who had served for so long as Mr Walker. He had always held the esteem of his colleagues and of the Council. The Mayor then presented Henry with a clock.


Responding to the Mayor, Henry Walker reflected on the time spent in Salford. He had seen some wonderful changes, with the area around Weaste Cemetery being a beautiful district. In July 1903, Salford's burial accommodation was substantially increased with the opening of the Northern Cemetery at Agecroft, which was also placed under Henry Walker's charge. He was pleased that the two cemeteries were able to yield a substantial sum towards the relief of the Rates. There were comparatively few cemeteries throughout the country that have paid their way, but Salford cemeteries had produced a surplus of £90,000 during a period of 70 years.


Henry Walker died on 7th April 1943 at the age of 88 years and was buried in the family grave in the Dissenters (Non Conformist) portion of Weaste Cemetery.