Contents |
On Tuesday the 16th of October, the Church of Donaghmore, at Castlecaulfield, being in the process of repair by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, it was found necessary to lower and level the floor of it.
In that part of the Chancel immediately under the monument of Governor Walker, the workmen discovered a full-sized oak coffin containing the remains of his widow [Isabella Barclay Walker], who in 1703, caused his bones to be brought there from the banks of the Boyne, where his body had been interred and had lain for thirteen years. They were this day found in a small oak box, in which this "widow indeed," full of endearing recollections of happier days, had deposited them.
This worthy Lady was the mother of four sons of the renowned Walker, who, at his death, were serving in King William's army and each of whom, in justice to their immortal father's service and their own, ought to have inherited one of the forfeited estates. John Walker, the eldest son, on a petition to the House of Commons, obtained a pension of £200 a year, which he enjoyed until the beginning of the reign of George I. when he was deprived of it by the parsimony of the triumphant Whigs. Of the other sons there is no record, save that the daughter of one of them was the mother of the late Mrs. Caldbeck, of Lisburn. In the case with Governer Walker's remains was placed a flint glass bottle, hermetically sealed, containing the following writing on parchment:- "Be it recorded, that whilst this Church was undergoing repair in the year 1838, search was made beneath the Monument of the Rev. Geo. Walker, immediately opposite to the Communion Table, at the Eastern end of the Church, and South side of the Aisle, to ascertain whether his bones were deposited there, agreeable to the inscription on the Monument, erected by his widow (illegible)
"We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, having assembled in said Church, on Tuesday, 16th October 1838, and having made search immediately beneath said Monument fixed in the wall, have found, in a full-sized oak coffin, the remains of his widow; and in a small oaken case adjoining, were deposited bones which had not the appearance of regular interment in a coffin, but corresponding with the words on the monument, 'Ossa reconduntur,' &c. &c.
"Now to testify our veneration and respect for the memory of the illustrious Walker, we herein carefully replace the bones, and restore them to their former position, together with this Record..In 1674 the Revd George Walker (Junior) succeeded his father (Revd George Walker Senior) as rector of the parish of Donaghmore. He was a soldier/priest who helped form a regiment of troops in 1689 under Lord Charlemont and became joint Governor of the City of Derry during the siege. He was killed at the Battle of the Boyne in 1691, and some years later his remains were exhumed and buried in what is now the South Transept of St Michael's. The magnificent east window was installed in 1968 by the Apprentice Boys of Derry as a memorial to the Rev'd Walker./[1]
He died at the Battle of Boyne.
He is buried in Donaghmore, Tyrone, Ireland.
George was Rector of Donaghmore and Errigal Keerogue. He was also the Governor of Londonderry during the Glorious Revolution and Siege of 1688 (James II).
Much has been written about the Rev. Dr. George Walker Jr. One example is an article that appeared in the "Newry Telegraph" on 30 Oct 1838 entitled "Discovery and re-interment of the remains of the Rev. George Walker, Rector of Donaghmore and Governor of Londonderry".
The date of his birth was changed from 1645 to 1618 to agree with the WIKIPEDIA profile for him and also to "fix" an issue with his age since his son John Alexander Walker was born - 1655.
Found from AncestryDNA tests between:
This week's featured connections are from the War of the Roses: George is 12 degrees from Margaret England, 10 degrees from Edmund Beaufort, 10 degrees from Margaret Stanley, 10 degrees from John Butler, 11 degrees from Henry VI of England, 10 degrees from Louis XI de France, 11 degrees from Isabel of Clarence, 10 degrees from Edward IV of York, 11 degrees from Thomas Fitzgerald, 11 degrees from Richard III of England, 9 degrees from Henry Stafford and 11 degrees from Perkin Warbeck on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
Categories: Church of Ireland Priests | Notables
Biographical Notice of George Walker, Governor of Derry during the Siege in 1688. Part I Abraham Dawson Ulster Journal of Archaeology First Series, Vol. 2 (1854), pp. 129-135 Published by: Ulster Archaeological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20608720 Page Count: 7
http://www.ocotilloroad.com/geneal/walker1.html#GEOR3