The Walker family is one of Rotherham's most influential families.
Brothers Samuel and Aaron moved a few miles from Grenoside to Masbrough in 1746, alongside the newly navigable River Don at Rotherham, where they built a casting house together with their brother in law, John Crawshaw. This was the foundation of what became one of the largest iron foundries in the country, which supplied most of the iron cannon used by the Government up to 1815, as well as the material for several iron bridges.
The Walker factory was famed for producing cannons for the Royal Navy during the time of Nelson and the historic piece on display in Rotherham town centre was recovered from a scrapyard in Kent and is believed to have been at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Grace's Guide highlights that about 80 of the 105 guns aboard HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar were cast by the Walker Company which by 1813 was turning out some 3,000 tons weight of guns annually.
The unveiling ceremony took place on Monday 21 October, marking the 220th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The cannon was originally unveiled in 1990.
In 1783 Samuel's son, Joshua Walker had Clifton House built, shortly after his marriage to wealthy heiress Susannah Need. It is now home to the museum at the heart of Clifton Park.
Joshua inherited the controlling interest in the family business and continued to run and develop the Walker Iron Works.
Joshua and Susannah's son Henry Walker continued to run the family's iron and steel businesses and in 1819 they cast the iron for London's Southwark Bridge. This was quite an event in Rotherham and newspapers from the time report sightseers flocking to the area to watch the casting; unfortunately the company made a loss on this venture. By this time the wars against France had come to an end and there was no longer such a demand for cannon. As a result by 1833, Henry Walker had sold a number of the foundries and wound-up the business.
Images: Google Maps / RMBC
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