Law professor’s widow leaves £4m to charities

Margaret Walker left the bulk of her legacy for The Woodland Trust, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Her husband was Professor David Walker QC, regius professor of law at Glasgow University. He died in 2014 aged 93, while Mrs Walker died at 89 last July. They had married in 1954 and did not have children.

Mercy Ships UK as well as Parkinson’s Disease Society of the United Kingdom will each benefit from £750,000. Smaller gifts have been made to other groups including: the University of Glasgow Trust, Compassion in World Farming, The Donkey Sanctuary, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Starter Packs Glasgow, and Dogs Trust.

A spokeswoman for RSPB Scotland said: “We are very grateful to Mrs Walker for remembering the RSPB in her will. Her generosity will go a long way to helping protect the country’s precious wildlife and wild places.”

An RNLI spokesman added: “The RNLI is most grateful for this extremely generous legacy which will help the charity continue with its aim of saving lives at sea.”

Mrs Walker was an elder of Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church where she was known for raising money for the church through selling Christmas cards and writing for the church newsletter.

After Professor Walker died she thanked family and friends for the support they gave her.

She said: “This may seem trivial to you but to me it represents a constant warm glow of concern, kindness, love, help, a sign that I am not alone, for which I am eternally grateful.

“This to me is what Christianity is all about – kindness, support, love and concern for others.”

Professor Walker studied at the High School of Glasgow and theUniversities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and London.

His education was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War – which saw him serve in India and Italy between 1939 and 1946.

He graduated with an MA and LLB with Distinction from Glasgow University before being called to the bar in 1948.

Paying tribute to him after his death, Professor Mark Furse of the University’s law school, said Professor Walker was a “towering figure in Scottish legal education, who, through his teaching and writing, influenced generations of students, academics and practitioners”.