The conventional biography of Walter Calverley (as in the 1st edition of the Dictionary of National Biography) draws on events from the two plays and from history. Much confusion has been caused by the Calverleys' practice of alternating between "Walter" and "William" as the name of the eldest son in each generation, with the other name used for the second son. In accordance with common practice under
primogeniture, the eldest son married young (often while a minor) while later sons married late. The conventional biography does not say when Walter was born, perhaps because there is a clear problem for those, such as the DNB, which give the date − 1579 − of Walter's
matriculation at Cambridge. It then goes on to record that Walter lost his father as a young child. This is consistent with Walter the matriculator having been the son of Sir William Calverley, who died . We shall see that Walter the matriculator was probably the murderer's uncle, while Sir William was the murderer's great-grandfather. In Scene 1 of
A Yorkshire Tragedy, Sam says of the young master "he's married to another long ago". This theme is developed further in
The Miseries of Enforced Marriage. The Calverley figure, Scarborrow, has
plight his troth with Clare, the daughter of Sir John Harcop. Both parties consider the marriage binding: Scarborrow regards his subsequent marriage to Katherine as
bigamous and their children as
bastards; Clare commits suicide as she cannot remarry. Under ecclesiastical law,
marriage in sixteenth-century England could be contracted "
per verba de præsenti" privately, with no public ceremony. Such marriages were valid in the eyes of the church, but were not recognised by the civil law. The conventional biography records that, in his teens, Walter fell in love with a local young woman and proposed marriage. She accepted, and the young couple planned to marry. We cannot know whether there is any truth to this. In
The Miseries of Enforced Marriage, Scarborrow is called to London by his uncle, Sir William, and his guardian, Lord Faulconbridge. His guardian tells Scarborrow that he is to marry the guardian's niece. In his 1816 history of Leeds and its district,
Loidis and Elmete, Thomas Dunham Whitaker records that Walter travelled to London to meet his guardian, Sir William, who told him that he was to marry the guardian's niece. As Walter did marry Philippa Brooke, niece of Sir William Brooke, it is easy to see how this led to the identification of Sir
William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham as Walter's guardian. In the conventional biography, Walter and Phillipa disliked each other. However, dutifully, the couple wed in London. Walter forgot his previous engagement. On their return to Calverley, Walter sought distraction in drinking and gambling, soon dissipating his fortune, mortgaging his lands and squandering his wife's dowry. In
A Yorkshire Tragedy, the
Master of Walter's old college visits him in Yorkshire, bringing news that his brother has been arrested for a debt which is Walter's, This precipitates the murderous string of events. In the conventional biography, on 23 April 1605, news was brought to Walter that a relative, a student at Cambridge, had been arrested for a debt which was actually Walter's. In a drunken frenzy, he stabbed his sons, William and Walter, and his wife, killing both children. However, Phillipa survived the attack as Calverley's knife did not pierce his wife's corset, inlaid with bone. Calverley continued murderously through the house, throwing a nursemaid down stairs and ordering another servant to retrieve his youngest son, who was with a
wet-nurse miles from home. When the servant failed to obey, Calverley saddled his horse and went off to kill his youngest child, but was apprehended and brought before the magistrate. == Early life ==