Walker

Origine et histoire

Occupational surname derived from Old English 'wealcere', denoting a 'walker' — a cloth-worker who trod or 'walked' woollen cloth in water to cleanse and thicken it, a process known as fulling. Fulling was a critical step in medieval wool production, and the walkers (or fullers) who performed it were indispensable to England's most important medieval industry. The name is concentrated in the textile-producing regions of northern England, particularly Yorkshire.