THIS SERIES CONTAINS RESTRICTED MATERIAL.

Dr Walker, a medical practitioner, observed and treated a variety of people for an array of illinesses, ranging from dental problems to infectious diseases during his travels and professional life, some of which may be documented in Mrs Walker's diaries. Doctor and Mrs Walker also observed and described some Australian Aboriginal ceremonial activity and associated materials.

Many of the diaries describe the photographs taken by Dr and Mrs Walker. A significant number of photographs have been noted for restricted access, either as being culturally sensitive or because of the graphic nature of some medical conditions. During his service in the Australian Imperial Forces during 1918-1919 Walker was employed in medical facilites for the treatment of venereal diseases and documented some cases in his diary and photographs.

Bound volumes and loose leaf diaries detail the life experiences of Dr Walker.

The diaries commence in 1914 with an autobiography apparently penned as part of a school requirement. Apart from summary notes of activities the diaries also "concentrate" (ie summarise) his inwards and outwards correspondence. The narrative may be interspersed with press cuttings and other loose leaf matter (such as lists of things, people, places).

Particular documentation is noted in the details column in relation to places and people visited during various travels (especially in Central Australia and enroute to England), industrial plant etc visited, significant events, individuals associated with and photographs taken. A significant part of the diary has been restricted either as being culturally sensitive or because of the graphic nature of some medical conditions duscussed. Place names and geographical locations may incorporate abbreviation for state or country (eg saPort Pirie, ukCamden) to facilitate indexing. Like Mollie Walker's diaries these provide some descriptive prose on people, institutions and private houses visited.

A further part of each diary may comprise a birthday list, Christmas card list and often a telephone list, all compiled by the Walkers. In addition banking and financial management, arrangements for developement and printing of still photographs in black and white in various sizes and formats are detailed, together with a list of photographs given to various people, or sold for publication.

The series includes WD Walker's notes on photography and associated chemistry, and notes taken during lectures/research towards his medical education and practice.

Some patience and diligence may be required to make the best use of the non-narrative part of the diary as blocks of information appears to have been compiled at irregular intervals (eg diary precis for the period 9/2/31 to 12/7/32 titled 'Diary daily index 1931' is entered as control number AA 357/4/21/8) and there may be some incorrect placement of individual pages throughout. These references may be an expedient path to subject references not indexed (eg number of hours slept daily, weather extremes, or lost radium needles!)

Indexing.
An index entry in the "Finding Aid" should provide access to all relevant references. While the 'Details' column for each "Inventory Item" is entered in 'natural language', constraints in the indexing system may distort the text with additional punctuation or searchable index strings. All personal names and locations contained in annotations have been indexed, however, names may be misspelt and index system anomolies may provide some unexpected results.