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- Born 9.7.1885 in Brixton, London
Albert Edward (?Bertie?) Walkley was the only child of William Henry and Alice Walkley. Not much is known of his childhood. The family lived at Shakespeare Road, Brixton and it is believed they then moved to Selhurst, near West Croydon, as they attended West Croydon Baptist Church. It was here that Bertie became a Sunday School teacher and later a deacon.
In 1909 when Robert Baden-Powell formed the Boy Scouts Association, Bertie got together a small troop of boys at the church to form the Croydon Troop, which subsequently became the 10th Croydon Scout Troop attached to West Croydon Baptist Church. At this time Bertie was working in Lloyds Bank, Cox & Kings Branch in Pall Mall, London, but he spent every spare moment with his ?boys?. He took them on many, very successful camps, and the boys came to regard ?Skipper? as their mentor, particularly during the difficult years of the First World War. The Troop grew from strength to strength and Bertie became Group Scout Master. He was appointed Assistant District Commissioner for Croydon in 1925 and held that position until 1939 when he became District Commissioner. In 1948 the Croydon Scouting Association was reorganised on a sub-county basis and Bertie became Croydon?s first Town Commissioner.
Bertie was a confirmed bachelor until 1935 when Alfrida Andrewes joined his staff at Lloyds Bank as his secretary. ?Freda?, as she was known, was 23 years his junior but that did not stop romance blossoming and on 13th March 1937 they married at All Saints Parish Church in Putney, on the banks of the River Thames, with his Scouts forming guard of honour. ?Skip?, as he became known, and Freda moved into a new home in Rayleigh Rise, South Croydon. Whilst Freda had not had the opportunity of being a Girl Guide, she was game for anything and threw herself into helping Skip in his Scouting activities. Indeed No 2 Rayleigh Rise was open house to everybody - many sing-song evenings were held round the family piano practising for the gang shows they put on - and no-one was sent home hungry, despite the lean times.
On 1st February 1940, during a very hard winter, their first child Gillian was born. Three more children followed, Malcolm (1942), Margaret Elizabeth (1944) and Richard (1946). At the same time as getting used to being a father of four, albeit at a later stage in his life than most, Skip continued with his Scouting activities. In 1947, on his retirement from Lloyds Bank, he took up the appointment of Assistant Secretary of the Garrick Club in London, a position he held for the rest of his life.
As well as being an accomplished pianist, Skip was also an expert philatelist and had assembled a large collection of stamps from all over the world.
Skip died at his home on 26th February 1960, and was cremated at Croydon Crematorium. Many of his former Scouts were among those who paid tribute at his funeral to a most courteous and selfless gentleman who had devoted his life to the Scout Movement.
A teak seat was dedicated as a memorial to him in the Town Hall Gardens, Croydon.
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1885 - 1960 (74 years)
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