WAL WALKER
Through my family I am connected to the arrival of the first British to settle in Sydney. On one side of my family there are four convicts from the first fleet and one from the second fleet who came accompanying a surgeon, D’Arcy Wentworth, the first fare-paying passenger to the Colony. On the other side of my family, William Walker arrived in 1813 from Calcutta to sort out the affairs of Robert Campbell, whose trading enterprise was under duress, after Campbell had been sent to London by Governor Macquarie in support of Bligh. These and many of their descendants took an interest in the welfare of the Indigenous Australians. Some advocated for them as members of parliament, in New South Wales and Queensland, in the first Commonwealth parliament and later as the first Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. It is not unreasonable for the reader to understand that I have a passionate interest in Australian history and the welfare of the Australian Aborigines. My history, Jane & D’Arcy: Jane Austen & D’Arcy Wentworth, in two volumes, tells a story long suppressed by Jane Austen’s family, who prevented her for travelling to Australia with D’Arcy. The Squatters’ Grab, looks at the failures of government and administration, in London and the Colony, that allowed the violent dispossession of the Indigenous people. It unearths, many for the first time, the people and incidents responsible for this disaster. Two further books will be published by Arcana Gallery Press; later this year: Walkers: Merchants, Bankers & Squatters and in 2025: Bill Wentworth, His Life and Times. What I would say about myself is that I have been a researcher, trained as an economist, who has become an historian through exposure, travels throughout Australia, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa; now in retirement, having the time and knowledge to investigate and make new knowledge available to readers. I hope you enjoy the stories.
WAL WALKER'S BOOKS
2025 AUTHOR TALKS
Jane & D’Arcy
6.00pm, Wednesday 12 March, Woollahra Library
WOOLLAHRA HISTORY & HERITAGE SOCIETY
Contact: secretary@whhs.orh.au
The Squatters’ Grab
8.00pm, Wednesday 19 February, Coburg Library
COBURG HISTORICAL SOCIETY, VICTORIA
Contact: email: mazbmoore@gmail.com
1.30pm, Saturday 22 March, 8 Lithgow Street, Campbelltown
CAMPBELLTOWN & AIRDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: events@cahs.org.au
2.00pm, Sunday 18 May, Summer Hill Community Centre, Smith St
ASHFIELD & DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: meepeewee@bigpond.net.au
2.00pm, Saturday 7 June, 1 Bent St Concord,
CANADA BAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: email: rozmiller49@yahoo.com.au
2.30pm, Saturday 14 June, Environmental Education Centre, Field of Mars Reserve Pittwater Road, East Ryde
RYDE HUNTERS HILL FLORA & FAUNA PRESERVATION SOCIETY
CONTACT: alfred.vincent@bigpond.com
7.00pm, Tuesday 24 June, Lane Cove Library, 24-28 Burns Bay Rd
LANE COVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: lchs@carisbrookhouse.com
7.30pm, Monday 1 September, Bungarribee Hub, 20 Sir Hercules Pde, Doonside 2767 BLACKTOWN & DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: jhornex@live.com.au
10.30 Saturday 6 September, 99 Blaxland Road, Wentworth Falls
BLUE MOUNTAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Contact: Fiona.burn@hotmail.com
10.00am, Sunday 21 September, Willandra, 770 Victoria Rd, Ryde
RYDE & DISTRICT HISTORIAL SOCIETY
Contact: Lesllgibb153@hotmail.com
10.30-12.30, Saturday 25 October, 79 Petersham Rd, Marrickville
MARRICKVILLE HERITAGE SOCIETY
Contact: email: marrickvilleheritagesociety@outlook.com
Individuals or interest groups, such as historical or family history societies, schools, colleges, libraries and others wishing to arrange an author talk, please contact Wal Walker by sending us an email below.
BOOKSHOPS
The Squatters’ Grab is available from this website and all good bookshops around Australia: ACT: Paperchain, Manuka National Library Bookshop New South Wales: State Library of NSW Bookshop Abbey’s Bookshop, York Street, Sydney Constant Reader, Crows Nest Dymocks, Parramatta Queensland: State Library of Queensland Bookshop; Dymocks, Brisbane Mary Ryan, New Farm; Book House, Noosaville; Books@Stones, Stones Corner Riverbend, Bulimba Victoria: Readings, State Library of Victoria; Royal Historical Society, Melbourne 3000 Aesops Attic, Kyneton Collins, Swan Hill; Stoneman’s Bookroom, Castlemaine Tasmania: Dymocks, Hobart, 7000 Western Australia: New Edition, Fremantle Jane & D’Arcy is available from this website. In the UK, from the Jane Austen Centre, Bath. In the USA, from Jane Austen Books, and from all good bookshops around Australia: Gleebooks, Glebe Pt Road, Glebe; Abbey’s Bookshop, York Street, Sydney; National Library Bookshop, Canberra.