the Hobson’s Bay Soap and Candle Company, and a long-serving Collingwood councillor, occupying the mayoral seat in 1873, 1875, 1878 - 79, 1880 - 81, and 1887 - 88. He was also a Justice of the Peace and chairman of the local bench for many years. A portrait of him painted by well-known artist Tom Robertshangs in Collingwood Town Hall.

Walker had worked as a commercial traveller in England; he arrived in Melbourne with his wife Elizabeth in 1855 and worked as a bookkeeper, salesman and manager for various businesses, including a small soap and candle factory in Victoria Street. In 1863 he became owner of this business; by 1875 he was employing 15 men and producing 55 tons of soap and six tons of candles monthly. Walker's soap factory was situated at the easternmost section of Victoria Street on land which he leased from Peter Nettleton. A John Boehme had a tallow works on this site prior to Walker taking over in the 1860s.

In 1863 he acquired an additional property in Victoria Street between Walmer Street and Flockhart Street where he established a candle factory using stearin which produces a higher quality candle. The making of soap and candles polluted both the Yarra and Collingwood's atmosphere. Butchers' fat was collected and sorted; the best grades were selected for fine candles and the lesser grades (perhaps including entrails with dung) for soap. The fat was boiled with water in vats. Before 1870 these vats were usually open, resulting in 'unbearable odours' even across the river in Hawthorn. In 1870 Walker added carbolic acid as a deodorant, and claimed to have introduced air-tight vats, but complaints about the offensive odours continued. Finally, there was the disposal of the residue. Walker said his went to market gardeners, presumably those working land near his factory; the water from the vats would have gone into the Yarra.

Like a number of noxious trades proprietors, Walker became involved with Collingwood Council; first elected in 1872, he attributed his successful campaign to his neighbour, woolwasher Peter Nettleton. Over 15 years, Kew residents continued to complain to Collingwood Council about Walker's fumes, to no avail. Walker's view was that factories were 'beneficial to the district'.

In order to improve the riverside manufacturing area, interested persons had been advocating the building of a bridge at the end of Victoria Street to connect Kew and Hawthorn via Barker's Road. The Observer said in 1865 'four miles of a main road frontage would be gained, and shanties would make room for villas'. The campaign continued for almost two decades; it required four councils—Collingwood, Richmond, Kew and Hawthorn—to agree, and would be costly, especially as it involved acquiring land. Finally in 1882 construction commenced, after Nettleton donated land and Walker subscribed £100 towards the cst. Officially opened in 1884, the bridge was going to be good for business for both Walker and Nettleton. 

Among his other interests, Walker was one of the directors of the Victorian Tramway Company, which lobbied among parliamentarians and councils for the introduction of tramways, and he would have been gratified to see a cable tram commence operation in Victoria Street in 1886. A photograph taken of the Victoria Street bridge in 1886 or later shows Walker's house, soap works and tall chimney, as well as a cable tram at the terminus outside his house.

Henry and Elizabeth had only one child, named Hannah Elizabeth after her paternal grandmother and mother, but going by the name Lilly. In 1878 she married Walter Nation, the youngest son of well-regarded builder James Nation of Studley Park, at St Philip’s Church of England in Hoddle Street. The families would already have been well-known to each other. Ten years later tragedy struck the family when Elizabeth, aged 59, was burned to death late one night, being in the habit of reading in bed by the light of candles, which set fire to the bed curtains. The fire was discovered too late to save her as she slept apart from Henry. 

One of Henry's leisure activities was bowling, and he was an enthusiastic member of the Richmond Union Bowling Club, a passion which he shared with his son-in-law. In 1895 Walter died suddenly at the age of 40 and a memorial to him was erected at the Bowling Club. Lilly, who had four children, would live in Richmond until her death at the age of 65.

Henry died in 1900 at the age of 79 and a lengthy cortege followed the hearse. At his death the property included a brick house, two old weatherboard cottages, and an area ‘let as a Chinese garden’ (i.e. market garden conducted by Chinese people). MMBW Detail Plan No. 1302 shows the soap works (note the pig sties). Towards the street frontage is Walker’s house, surrounded by verandas, gravel paths, and garden beds. In 1903 the Hobsons Bay Soap and Candle Company was advertised as a going concern but was apparently unsuccessful as the property was soon occupied by disinfectant maker Samuel Lowe, who re-located from Nelson Street. The Chinese market gardeners remained.

Later in the twentieth century the property became the site of the Honeywell Ltd software solutions enterprise, and in the early twenty-first century a massive new development was planned, comprising three separate buildings rising up to 11 storeys. In spite of a huge number of objections to Yarra Council and VCAT, it was ultimately approved by VCAT and constructed. 

Barrett, The inner suburbs; Victoria and its Metropolis p 621

https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/walker-henry-4785

Richmond Guardian obituary

Trove list: https://trove.nla.gov.au/list/219370

Victoria St bridge and Walker's house

MMBW Detail Plan 1302