John Walter (1818 - November 3, 1894), eldest son of John Walter, editor of The Times, was born at Printing-house Square.

He was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford, being called to the bar in 1847. On leaving Oxford he took part in the business management of The Times, and on his father's death became sole manager, though he devolved part of the work on Mr Mowbray Morris. He was a man of scholarly tastes and serious religious views, and his conscientious character had a marked influence on the tone of the paper.

It was under him that the successive improvements in the printing machinery, begun by his father in 1814, at last reached the stage of the "Walter Press" in 1869, the pioneer of modern newspaper printing-presses. In 1847 he was elected to Parliament for Nottingham as a moderate Liberal, and was re-elected in 1852 and in 1857. In 1859 he was returned for Berkshire, and though defeated in 1865, was again elected in 1868, and held the seat till he retired in 1885.

He was twice married, first in 1842 to Emily Frances Court (d. 1858), and secondly in 1861 to Flora Macnabb. His eldest son by the first marriage, John, was accidentally drowned at Bear Wood in 1870; and he was succeeded by Mr Arthur Fraser Walter (1846-1910), his second son by the first marriage. Mr AF Walter remained chief proprietor of The Times till 1908, when it was converted into a company. He then became chairman of the board of directors, and on his death was succeeded in this position by his son John.