If the female relative of William Neish Walker referred to by D'Arcy Thompson in his letter to Archie Don was his grandmother, then she was Margaret Gibb. She married John Walker in 1803, the same year as he took tenancy of Blebo Mill, Dura Den. Apart from this, we have found no other mention of her.
Their second son, Harry, was born in 1812. He and his older brother, John, moved to Dundee in 1833, and set up in business as flax spinners, under the designation J & H Walker. The firm erected Dura Works around 1836. They were one of the first Dundee mills to change to spinning jute.
Dundee's connections with the Dura Den area can still be traced in its street names ; Kemback Street, Eden Terrace, Dura Street.
Harry's son, William Neish Walker, was born on 15th February, 1849. He went to school in Dundee, and then to study at the University of Edinburgh.
By the time he asked to visit the expedition at Dura Den, he was Director of Harry Walker & Sons, a limited company, owning Angus, and Caldrum, Works. Completed in 1873, Caldrum was the second biggest jute mill in Dundee. It covered a ground area of 8 acres, and worked 9,500 spindles.