Bryon Edmund Walker
Plot N, Lot 4
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Born in the township of Seneca in the Ontario county of Haldimand on October 14, 1858, Byron Edmund Walker attended public school until the age of thirteen when he quit to enter an uncle’s private banking business in Hamilton. Seven years later he joined a Hamilton branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce as a discount clerk. Walker worked his way through the organisation and in 1886 was appointed general manager. A little more than twenty years later, he was bank president.
Walker is best remembered for his public activities, which were legend. He was a trustee, senator, chairman, and later chancellor of the University of Toronto (which he helped reorganise in 1905-06), president of the Toronto Guild of Civic Art, president of the federal commission to select works for the National Gallery, and honorary president of the famous Mendelssohn Choir. Walker was an enthusiastic supporter of the Royal Ontario Museum, both institutions obtaining generous donations of money and material gifts on his death. He was also the founder and benefactor of the Champlain Society. Walker’s directorships were numerous, as were the titles of his various published works. In 1910, he was knighted by King George V. Sir Byron Edmund Walker died at his residence, “Long Garth,” 99 St. George Street, on March 27, 1924. The following day, before an immense crowd, an impressive funeral service was held in Convocation Hall, after which the body was borne to Mount Pleasant Cemetery for burial.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded