Following the death of his father in 1807, Walmsley became a teacher in Eden Hall School, and after returning to
Liverpool in 1811, he took a teaching position at Knowles's school. He entered the service of a corn merchant in 1814, and at the end of this engagement went into the same business himself. He was an early advocate of the repeal of the duty on corn, and was afterwards an active worker with
Richard Cobden,
John Bright, and others in the
Anti-Cornlaw League. In 1826 he took the presidency of the
Liverpool Mechanics' Institution. At about the same time Walmsley got to know
George Stephenson, in whose railway schemes he was interested, and with whom he joined in purchasing the Snibstone estate, near
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where rich seams of coal were found. He was elected a member of the Liverpool town council in 1835, and worked to improve the police, sanitation and education of the city. He was one of the 49 founder members of the historic Liverpool Chess Club in 1837 which was situated in the Lyceum building on Bold Street. He was appointed Mayor in November 1838, and knighted on the occasion of
Queen Victoria's marriage. With
Lord Palmerston, Walmsley unsuccessfully contested Liverpool in the Liberal interest in June 1841. He retired to
Ranton Abbey,
Staffordshire, in 1843, and at the general election of 1847 was elected M.P. for
Leicester, but was unseated on petition. He started the National Reform Association about this time, and was its president and chief organiser for many years. In 1849, he was returned as M.P. for
Bolton in
Lancashire, but in 1852 exchanged that seat for Leicester, where his efforts on behalf of the framework knitters had made him popular. He lost his seat in 1857, and practically retired from public life, although he retained the presidency of the National Sunday League from 1856 to 1869. ==Death==