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Lieutenant Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd WALKER CMG
Special List Date of birth: 13th May 1850 Date of death: 16th May 1917 Died aged 67 Buried at St Katherine's Church Knockholt
He was born at Chester on the 13th of May 1850 the second son of John Walker, ordnance storekeeper, and Camilla Walker of Chester Castle. He was christened at St Mary's-on-the Hill Church, Chester on the 10th of July 1850. He was educated at the King's School Canterbury from 1858 and later at Brentwood School in Essex. He went on to the Royal Military College Sandhurst where he excelled at sport, representing the college at athletics in 1869 and 1870 and for the Cricket XI in 1869 becoming their Captain the following year. On his graduation from Sandhurst he was awarded the Sword of Honour which was presented to him by the Duke of Cambridge. He was a keen footballer and, on leaving Sandhurst, he joined Clapham Rovers Football Club and later Wanderers Football Club. On the 18th of November 1870 he was selected to play for England against Scotland where he scored the only goal in England's 1-0 victory. On the 25th of February 1871 he again played for England against Scotland in a 1-1 draw, again scoring England's only goal. On the 18th of November 1871 he scored twice for England in their 2-1 victory over Scotland. He was also selected to play for the England Rugby XV against Scotland in the test match of 1873 but in the event he didn't play in the match. He was commissioned as an Ensign in the 28th Regiment of Foot (Gloucester Regiment) on the 28th of October 1871. In December 1872 he was promoted to Lieutenant with effect from the 28th of October 1871. He served in Gibraltar and Malta with his regiment. In 1874 he was posted to Perak in Malaya but later transferred to Hong Kong. In 1878 he moved on to Singapore where he was Aide-de-Camp to Sir William Robertson, Governor of the Straits Settlement. In early 1879 he entered the service of the Federated Malay States, becoming Deputy Commissioner of the Perak Armed Police in 1880. He was promoted to Captain in 1881 and by 1884 he was Commandant of the 1st Battalion of Perak Sikhs with the local rank of Major. He was promoted to Major on the 1st of July 1888 and was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel on the 27th of November 1889 while he was serving with the Perak Police. In 1896 the Perak and Sengalor Police Forces were merged into the Malay States Guides and Walker was appointed as their first commandant. He was married in London in 1896 to Beatrice (nee Ireland) the widow of Colonel Richard George Bolford Bolton, Royal Horse Guards; they lived at “Scotts Lodge”, Knockholt in Kent. He had the reputation of being something of a disciplinarian with a fierce temper, and was known to the local Malays as the "Black Panther". He has been described as "at the best of times very much a martinet" and "a difficult man to work with". He was made a Companion of St Michael and St George in the King's New Years Honours List of the 1st of January 1891 and on the 3rd of May 1902 he was granted the local rank of Lieutenant Colonel on his appointment as Commandant of the Malay States Guides. He retired from the army on the grounds of ill health in 1910 and returned to the UK, living at Scott's Lodge, Knockholt in Kent. On his retirement a bronze statue of him was erected outside the Perak Museum in Taiping which was paid for by public subscription of the Sultans of Perak and Johore, friends of the principal Chinese Towkays and by the officers and men of the Regiment of Malay State Guides. The inscription reads:- "For his hospitality and encouragement of all branches of sport and his success in raising the Regiment of Malay States Guides to the highest excellence this statue will serve as a continued remembrance." He rejoined the army during the Great War when he was appointed as Commandant of the prisoner of war camp at Alexandra Palace where German and Austrian nationals were interned from March 1915. He died from prostate cancer and is commemorated on the war memorial at Knockholt.