One of seventeen children, eight of whom survived infancy Walter signed on to Titanic after serving on the  New York. He had previously been employed as a Fireman but he was working on Titanic as a Trimmer.

Almost nothing is known of his experiences on the Titanic, it is unclear which lifeboat he escaped on, possibly lifeboat 3. 

Walter continued to work at sea and married Cecilia Frances Lahey in 1941. The couple had two children. Walter spent his life in Southampton and died there in 1959.