John walton christian

​WALTON, CHRISTOPHER (1809–1877), theosopher, son of John and Hannah Walton, was born at Worsley, Lancashire, in June 1809. He was educated by Jonathan Crowther (1794–1856) [q. v.] He came to London in 1830, having served his time in a Manchester warehouse. After gaining some experience abroad, he began business as a silk-mercer. Ultimately he made a fortune as a jeweller and goldsmith on Ludgate Hill, remaining in business till 1875. His religious connection was with the Wesleyan methodists. For many years (from 1839) he was one of the secretaries to the Strangers' Friend Society; its reports 1844 and 1845 are his. Through the specimens in Wesley's ‘Christian Library’ he was introduced to the writings of William Law [q. v.]; Law led him to Jacob Boehme, and he found a key to Boehme in the diagrams of Dionysius Andrew Freher. His interest in theosophical writings of this class was widened by acquaintance with