Thomas IV Walker, later Ferrers (1887-1970 )

Bernard Fleetwood-Walker (Birmingham 1893 - London 1965). Oil painting on canvas, Thomas IV Walker, later Ferrers (1887-1970) by Bernard Fleetwood-Walker (Birmingham 1893 - London 1965), 1952-53. A three-quarter-length portrait of Thomas Ferrers sitting in a carved walnut chair, facing slightly right and wearing a grey lounge suit, his hands clasped in his lap. He is balding, has a grey moustache and wears round metal-framed glasses. He looks out towards the right. The Ferrers-Walker coat of arms feature on the right side of the shield that is painted in the top left corner of the portrait. See also BAD/D/212, a framed dedication of the painting by Mr Ferrers' work employees. Thomas Walker, who changed his name first to Thomas Ferrers-Walker and then to Thomas Ferrers, bought Baddesley Clinton and together with his wife Undine, initiated a thorough and careful structural restoration and subsequently spent many years removing paint and varnish from Henry Ferrers the Antiquary's chimneypieces and panelling to reveal the original oak. They also bought appropriate furniture to replace that which had been sold over the years. They intended to pass the house to the National Tust, but were unable to provide the endowment which the Trust needed if it was to preserve Baddesley Clinton for ever. So their son Thomas Weaving Ferrers-Walker embarked on a ten-year holding operation during which he opened the house to the public for the first time. In 1980, Graham Baron Ash's sister, Mrs H. E. Mellor and her daughter, Miss B. H. Mellor offered an endowment which enabled the government to purchase the house through the National Land Fund and then hand it to the National Trust. Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire (Accredited Museum)