Professor Darcy Walker was born 21 October 1917 in Palmerston North, Manawatu-Whanganui, New Zealand to Louis John Walker (1882-1957) and Hilda Blanche Carrel (1886-1964) and died 24 May 2016 New Zealand of unspecified causes. He married June Gregson Eaton Higgs (1928-2004) 1949 in Birmingham, England, United Kingdom.
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Malcolm Walker (1909-) | |||
| Ruth Walker (1910-) | |||
| Nancy Walker (1912-) | |||
| Garth Walker (1914-) | |||
| Arthur Walker (1916-) | |||
| Darcy Walker (1917-2016) | 21 October 1917 Palmerston North, Manawatu-Whanganui, New Zealand | 24 May 2016 New Zealand | June Gregson Eaton Higgs (1928-2004) |
Biographical detail
A graduate of what was then Auckland University College, Darcy was a professor at Victoria University of Wellington for several decades, retiring in 1980; since 1955 he had been "Head of Physics". His research speciality was "nuclear".
According to a university historian, he "was a member of the Committee of Atomic Energy set up by the government in 1956, and responsible for a report from Victoria's Professorial Board which the university Senate adopted as its bid to get in on the action".
He and his Birmingham-born wife resided at 22 Norna Crescent, Highbury/Kelburn, Wellington City, seeing out the 20th century there as their daughters moved away. Some of the family changes can be seen in electoral rolls for Wellington Central: in 1978 (after Jenny had moved away and married), Darcy was "Professor", June used a standard term for a housewife - "Married" - and Penny was "Student"; by 1981 Darcy was "Retired", Penny was "Public Svt", and Alex had reached the age of enrolment, listing as "Vetrnry Asst"; in 1984 they were all the same. Darcy was on the 2013 roll but not in that electorate in 2014.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Jennifer Carol (Jenny) Walker (living) | Birmingham, West Midlands, England, United Kingdom | Anthony Brian (Tony) Lendrum (1947) | |
| Penelope Jane (Penny) Walker (living) | Wellington City, Wellington Region, New Zealand | Peter William Humphreys Rooke (living) | |
| Alexandra Sarah (Alex) Walker (living) | |||
Residences
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
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| Ω Birth |
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| ₪ Wedding |
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| ¶ Death |
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External links
- Commendation in Victoria University of Wellington, 1899-1999: A History by Rachel Barrowman - ... "... successor, Darcy Walker, was a less flamboyant figure, and one described on his retirement in 1980 as a 'stabilising influence' in the university. An Auckland graduate who had done his postgraduate work and then taught at Birmingham, Walker was appointed as a good all-rounder, but his postwar research had been in nuclear physics (and then in high-energy and ionospheric physics. He fostered nuclear physics, solid-state physics and geophysics as the three main fields of the Victoria department (and university rugby as his main extracurricular interest)." [new paragraph] "Walker also played a leading role in the establishment of the Institute of Nuclear Science --- although this, from Victoria's point of view, was one of the ones that got away. He was a member of the Committee of Atomic Energy set up by the government in 1956, and responsible for a report from Victoria's Professorial Board which the university Senate adopted as its bid to get in on the action (there was resentment in the university that the government was preparing to take New Zealand into the nuclear age without it). The Walker plan was for a single nuclear science institute to be established on a university campus, jointly sponsored by the university and the DSIR, to engage in both applied research and postgraduate teaching. The hardware --- an accelerator and a small nuclear reactor --- would remain the property of the government. The need for an institute, and soon, was generally agreed: 'A country backward in nuclear science can only stumble blindly in the atomic age, ignorant of opportunities, deficient in technique and the pawn of countries more advanced,' the Victoria report began.... But the DSIR had other ideas..."
- Book reference to a letter of 3 January 1956 from Professor Darcy Walker to J V Wilson, DEA - part of PM 121/2/1 Part 1
- 100 Years of Physics - centennial book written in 2010; special guests at the celebration included "Darcy Walker who was appointed Head of Physics in 1955"
- Photos from the above celebration