Bill Walker

From the list of elephant persons Family: Walker

☨ Bill Walker
Profession	circus visitor
Personal details
Born	1929? in Australia

Dead	1962-02-05 Kalangadoo in Australia

Residence
Country	Australia

Work locations
Title	visitor -1960
Location	at Sole Brothers Circus in Australia

Biography details

William John Walker , circus visitor in Australia

Walker was born 1929? in Australia dead 1962-02-05 Kalangadoo, in Australia , son of other Stan Walker and artist Ethel Walker .

Affiliation with 1 elephants

1: Betty (fatal attack)

Casualties

1 casualties

1962-02-05: visitor Bill Walker fatal attack by Betty. He went to see the elephant early one morning and it's thought it became excited at seeing him again. It picked Bill up in its Trunk and must have knocked his cheek hard (giving him a "welcoming hug"). A piece of fragmented bone pierced his brain. William John Walker † Bill Walker Died 1962-02-05, Kalangadoo. The elephant laid him gently on the ground and that was how Jean Perry found him. There wasn't a mark on him apart from a slight bruise on his cheek.

Betty killed William Walker, the nephew of Joe Perry and Jean Perry at Kalangadoo in South Australia , she was given to Bullens.
Tony Ratcliffe

Stan Walker's brother Bill Walker was killed by an elephant when he was 32. He was working as a journalist for the Newcastle Sun and had gone down to South Australia to stay with the circus for 2 weeks holiday - he had worked for the circus on a number of occasions. He'd taken his camera with him and was planning to write a children's story about circus life. He went to see the elephant early one morning and it's thought it became excited at seeing him again. It picked Bill up in its Trunk and must have knocked his cheek hard (giving him a "welcoming hug"). A piece of fragmented bone pierced his brain. The elephant laid him gently on the ground and that was how Jean Perry found him. There wasn't a mark on him apart from a slight bruise on his cheek.

William Walker was killed by an elephant at a circus at 33yrs. He is resting in the Frenchs Forest Bushland Cemetery.
ADELAIDE, Monday.— A 33-year-old newspaper reporter died to-day after a four-ton circus elephant trampled him at Kalangadoo in the south-east of South Australia. The man was William Walker, of Newcastle, who was holidaying with relatives at Sole Brothers circus at Kalangadoo. Nobody saw the accident, which occurred at about 10.30 a.m. when Walker was stroking the female elephant.

Circus hands believe that she became frightened and knocked him to the ground.
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 6 February 1962, page 3

Siblings

Siblings through the father Stan Walker (1897-10-22 -- 1986-07-17):

Bill Walkers ancestral Ahnentafel:
P	I	II	III
Bill Walker Born: 1929?	Father: Stanley Walker Born: 1897-10-22	Paternal Grandfather: Born:	Paternal Great-grandfather:
		Paternal Grandfather: Born:	Paternal Great-grandmother:
		Paternal Grandmother: Born:	Paternal Great-grandfather::
		Paternal Grandmother: Born:	Paternal Great-grandmother:
	Mother: Maud Sole Born: 1903-04-21	Maternal Grandfather: William Sole Born: 1869	Maternal Great-grandfather: Edward Sole
		Maternal Grandfather: William Sole Born: 1869	Maternal Great-grandmother: Margaret Breen
		Maternal Grandmother: Elizabeth Perry Born: 1866-10-17	Maternal Great-grandfather: William Perry
		Maternal Grandmother: Elizabeth Perry Born: 1866-10-17	Maternal Great-grandmother: Mary Aherne

Bill Walker is mentioned on 2 other person pagesMaud Sole, Stanley Walker,

Bill Walker is mentioned on 3 location pagesCarl Hagenbecks Wild Animal Circus, Circus Sanger, Sole Brothers Circus,

Bill Walker is mentioned on 1 elephant record pagesBetty,

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). visitor William John Walker in Australia. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 6 April 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/person.php?id=3538. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

https://web.archive.org/web/20080828010234/https://sole.org.uk/circus.htm
Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Tuesday 6 February 1962, page 3
Tony Ratcliffe

Selected publications

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