CALVERLEY, CHARLES STUART (1831-1884), English poet and wit, and the literary father of what may be called the university school of humour, was born at Martley in Worcestershire on the 22nd of December 1831. His father, the Rev. Henry Blayds, resumed in 1852 the old family name of Calverley, which his grandfather had exchanged for Blayds in 1807. It was as Charles Stuart Blayds that most of the son’s university distinctions were attained. He went up to Balliol from Harrow in 1850, and was soon known in Oxford as the most daring and most high-spirited undergraduate of his time. He was a universal favourite, a delightful companion, a brilliant scholar and the playful enemy of all “dons.” In 1851 he won the Chancellor’s prize for Latin verse, and it is said that the entire exercise was written in an afternoon, when his friends had locked him into his rooms, declining to let him out till he had finished what they were confident would prove the prize poem. A year later he took his name off the books, to avoid the consequences of a college escapade, and migrated to Christ’s College, Cambridge. Here he was again successful in Latin verse, and remains the unique example of an undergraduate who has won the Chancellor’s prize at both universities. In 1856 he took second place in the first class in the Classical Tripos. He was elected fellow of Christ’s (1858), published Verses and Translations in 1862, and was called to the bar in 1865. Owing to an accident while skating he was prevented from following up a professional career, and during the last years of his life he was an invalid. His Translations into English and Latin appeared in 1866; his Theocritus translated into English Verse in 1869; Fly Leaves in 1872; and Literary Remains in 1885. He died on the 17th of February 1884. Calverley was one of the most brilliant men of his day; and, had he enjoyed health, might have achieved distinction in any career he chose. Constitutionally indolent, he was endowed with singular gifts in every department of culture; he was a scholar, a musician, an athlete and a brilliant talker. What is left us marks only a small portion of his talent, but his sparkling, dancing verses, which have had many clever imitators, are still without a rival in their own line. His humour was illumined by good nature; his satire was keen but kind; his laughter was of that human sort which is often on the verge of tears. Imbued with the classical spirit, he introduced into the making of light verse the polish and elegance of the great masters, and even in its most whimsical mood his verse is raised to the level of poetry by the saving excellence of style.

His Complete Works, with a biographical notice by Sir W.J. Sendall, appeared in 1901.

(A. Wa.)

CALVERT, the name of three English artists: Charles (1785-1852), a well-known landscape-painter; Edward (1803-1883), an important wood-engraver and follower of Blake; and Frederick, an excellent topographical draughtsman, whose work in water-colour is represented at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and who published a volume of Picturesque Views in Staffordshire and Shropshire (1830).

CALVERT, FREDERICK CRACE (1819-1873), English chemist, was born in London on the 14th of November 1819. From about 1836 till 1846 he lived in France, where, after a course of study at Paris, he became manager of some chemical works, later acting as assistant to M.E. Chevreul. On his return to England he settled in Manchester as a consulting chemist, and was appointed professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution in that city. Devoting himself almost entirely to industrial chemistry, he gave much attention to the manufacture of coal-tar products, and particularly carbolic acid, for the production of which he established large works in Manchester in 1865. Besides contributing extensively to the English and French scientific journals, he published a work on Dyeing and Calico-Printing. He died in Manchester on the 24th of October 1873.

CALVERT, SIR HARRY, BART. (c. 1763-1826), British general, was probably born early in 1763 at Hampton, near London. He was educated at Harrow, and at the age of fifteen entered the army. In the following year he served with his regiment in America, being present at the siege of Charleston, and serving through the campaign of Lord Cornwallis which ended with the surrender of Yorktown. From 1781 to 1783 he was a prisoner of war. Returning to England in 1784, he next saw active service in 1793-1794 in the Low Countries, where he was aide-de-camp to the duke of York, and in 1795 was engaged on a confidential mission to Brunswick and Berlin. In 1799, having already served as deputy adjutant general, he was made adjutant general, holding the post till 1818. In this capacity he effected many improvements in the organization and discipline of the service. He greatly improved the administration of the army medical and hospital department, introduced regimental schools, developed the two existing military colleges (since united at Sandhurst), and was largely responsible for the founding of the Duke of York’s school, Chelsea. In recognition of his work as adjutant general he was made a G.C.B. (1815), and, on retiring from office, received a baronetcy (1818). In 1820 he was made governor of Chelsea hospital. He died on the 3rd of September 1826, at Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire.