Andrew Barclay Walker was born in Auchinflower, Ayrshire on the 15th of December 1824, the second son of Peter Walker and his wife Mary. His father was the owner and master brewer of the Fort Brewery, Ayr and Andrew was educated at Ayr Academy before following his father to Liverpool in the 1830s where he attended the Liverpool Institute. On completion of his schooling Andrew joined his father in the brewing business and they expanded into Warrington where they acquired Pemberton Brewery in 1846 and initially re-named it Peter Walker & Son. In 1879, on the death of his father, he gained control of the business and in 1889 it was registered as Peter Walker & Sons, Warrington & Burton Ltd. The first Chairman was Sir Andrew Barclay Walker, and the two managing directors his sons William Hall Walker and John Reid Walker. He had married Eliza Reid in 1853 and they had six sons and two daughters.
Andrew was quite the astute businessman and one of his best ventures in his early career came when he bought and stored as much brandy as possible, having correctly predicted that it would be in short supply due to the failure of crops. As a brewer of some renown he quickly realised the potential in pale ale if only it could be rendered more cost effective, transportable and more importantly, exportable to Queen Victoria’s growing empire. He came up with an invention called the 'Burton Union' and quickly patented his model. His original was barely used in the industry, but his patent ensured that the name and idea earned him his fortune. This invention enabled the export of pale ale, now better known as India Pale Ale. During the 1850s and 1860s he developed a number of new processes for brewing ale and porters, as well as distilling and malting. In the late 1860s the family moved from Huyton Park and settled in Gateacre, building a huge house called The Grange on Rose Brow. Built in an Elizabethan style and using local sandstone, it had 21 bedrooms, a drawing room, library, music room, billiard room and smoking room.
In 1867 Andrew entered the Liverpool town council and in 1873, to celebrate his election as Mayor, he offered to donate an art gallery to the town, gifting £20,000 of his own money. Andrew himself was not an art collector but his public houses were built to high architectural standards. On the 28th of September the following year Prince Alfred laid the foundation stone of this art gallery and the council set aside £1,200 for the purchase of paintings and other works of art. The Walker Art Gallery was opened by the Earl of Derby on 6th September 1877 and over 300,000 visited before Christmas. In recognition of his public services he was knighted on the 12th of December 1877. He also provided funding towards the foundation of the engineering laboratories of Liverpool University College, and spent other large sums in charity and in fostering art and literature.
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| His marble statue stands in the cafe on the ground floor of the Art Gallery |
His wife Eliza was just 49 years old when she died in 1882. Created Baronet Walker of Gateacre Grange in the County of Lancaster on the 12th of February 1886, Andrew gave to the village of Gateacre, Liverpool a village green and an institute, a library, and reading-room. In the same year he was also appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire but he had no ambitions to become a Member of Parliament. Although he certainly had the credentials, he always said he wanted instead to remain in Liverpool to serve his fellow citizens. In 1887 he married Maud Okeover, the daughter of Charles Okeover of Staffordshire.
Andrew Barclay Walker died in 27th February 1893 at The Grange in Gateacre after a long illness. He was buried in the graveyard of All Saints Church in Childwall alongside his first wife.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/06/a-liverpool-exemplar-irene-mabel-marsh.html
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