George Herbert Walker
| George Herbert Walker Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
George Herbert Walker June 11, 1875 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | June 24, 1953 (aged 78) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Stonyhurst College Washington University in St. Louis |
| Occupation | Businessman, banker |
| Spouse(s) | Lucretia Wear (1874–1961) |
| Children | Dorothy Wear (1901–1992) George Herbert Jr. (1905–1977) John M. Walker (1909–1990) |
| Parent(s) |
David Davis Walker Martha Adela Beaky |
George Herbert "Bert" Walker Sr. (June 11, 1875 – June 24, 1953) was an American banker and businessman and the maternal grandfather of President George H. W. Bush and a great-grandfather of President George W. Bush.
George Herbert Walker was born on June 11, 1875 in St. Louis, Missouri. Walker was descended from a Maryland family of slave owners. His great grandfather Thomas Walker was a British slave trader. He was the youngest son of David Davis Walker, a dry goods merchant from Bloomington, Illinois, and Martha Adela Beaky. Ely, Walker & Company, which grew into a leading regional wholesaler, was later acquired by Burlington Industries.
Walker was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit boarding school in England. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1897.
Walker started a banking and investment firm named G.H. Walker & Co. in 1900. His family had developed many international banking contacts, and he helped organize the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Walker was known as the power behind the local Democratic Party.
In 1920, Walker became the President of the W.A. Harriman & Co. investment firm, and quickly arranged the credits that W. Averell Harriman needed to take control of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Walker also organized the American Ship and Commerce Corp. to be subsidiary of the W.A. Harriman & Co., with contractual power over the affairs of the Hamburg-Amerika. W.A. Harriman & Co. (renamed Harriman Brothers & Company in 1927) well-positioned for this enterprise and rich in assets from their German and Russian business, merged with the British-American investment house Brown Bros. & Co. on January 1, 1931. Walker retired to his own G.H. Walker & Co. This left the Harriman brothers, his son-in-law Prescott Bush and Thatcher M. Brown as senior partners of the new firm of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. The firm's London branch continued operating under its historic name Brown, Shipley & Co.
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