Among the companions of John Henry Newman at Littlemore at the time of his reception into communion with Rome in October 1845, perhaps the least remembered is John Walker. Indeed, Ambrose St. John, Richard Stanton, and Bernard Dalgairns followed Newman to the Oratory, yet Walker could never bring himself to do likewise. Often confused with Canon John Walker of Scarborough (one of Newman’s subsequent theological correspondents), ‘Dismal Johnny’, as he was dubbed by Manuel Johnson, the Radcliffe Observer, enjoyed a less than happy relationship with Newman. To recall the life of Walker is to shed some further light upon Newman’s own character, and to witness a reconciliation of estranged companions in old age.