Constituency : Glasgow 1857-65
Walter was one of two represenatives for the old burgh constituency of Glasgow. He was a merchant trading in the Baltic and India and lived at Shandon House in the city.
Walter was a keen supporter of the Reform Movement and Catholic emancipation and was first elected in a by-election in 1857. By this time he was seen as a moderate Whig. He voted against the Conspiracy to Murder Bill saying it was "an act of poltroonery, of national degradation" but hadn't wanted to overthrow Palmerston and wanted to play his part in "rearing up again a strong ... Liberal party."
The Times reported that in 1860 the speeches of Walter and his fellow Glasgow MP Robert Dalglish on that year's Reform Bill "touch the extreme limit of moderation and conservatism".
Walter had to quit Parliament in 1865 due to financial diffculties which led to the sale of Shandon House.
He died in 1883 aged 86.
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