A family devoted to the city

One family has been honoured by the City of Sydney for devoting almost 300 years to the Council, serving in several positions including official rat catcher.

Andrew Walker represents one of the three generations of the Surry Hills family and was presented with a 40-year long service award earlier this month.

Quality Assurance Coordinator, Mr Walker, 58, has kept it in the family, with his father, grandfather and three great uncles, all of whom worked for the cityfor 50 years.

“I started work at Council straight after school when I was 18. Dad wanted me to work with him, just like he did with his father,” Mr Walker said.

The Surry Hills family held an array of jobs including dunny-cart man, official rat catcher, and records manager.

Mr Walker  began work in 1971, as Council Clerk in the Stores Purchasing office. He has since held many roles including Licensing Clerk, Senior Freedom of Information Coordinator and Records Manager.

“It’s hard to feel that I’ve been here for 40 years. As you see with my family, Council can be a job for life. I could work another 10 years here and am not thinking of retiring yet,” Mr Walker said.

James George Walker, Andrew’s father, started work at Council in 1922, as the Town’s Clerk Messenger and Lift Driver.

“Dad’s claim to fame was that he hand-made the original wands and fittings for the El Alamein Fountain. His expertise was building things and making them work – he was the person you came to in Council to fix things,” Mr Walker said.

“It was nice working with Dad, and as I’ve come to grow up in Council, I’ve really appreciated his influence. It’s part of our family history” he said.

The Walker family history at the Council dates back to the early 1900s, with Andrew’s great uncles, John Earnest Sugden and Claude Harold Sugden. Both men worked as council labourers from 1900 to 1950 and 1904 to 1954.

Rupert Lesley Sugden, Walker’s third great uncle was the Lord Mayor’s Chauffeur and Council Truck Driver from 1906 to 1956.

“My grandfather, James Charles Walker, started working for Council in 1893 and spent half his life collecting people’s dunnies on a horse and cart. Instead of a Council car, he had a Council horse and cart – it was one of the perks of the job,” Mr Walker said.

“Later he was promoted to rat catcher, which was an important job [at] a time when plagues threatened Sydney.” City of Sydney’s Chief Executive Officer, Monica Barone, said the long-service of the Walker family is of great importance to the city.

“We truly value our employees. They are the heart of what we do – delivering quality services to the community,” Ms Barone said.

“I’m proud to say that we have many long-serving employees with 59 per cent serving five or more years and 37 per cent over 10 years. These members of staff have some extraordinary stories, none more remarkable than the Walker family.”

By Georgia Fullerton