Walter Calverley-Blackett

Who was Walter Calverley-Blackett?

Sir Walter Calverley-Blackett, 2nd Baronet was a British baronet and politician.

He was born Walter Calverley at Otley, the only son of Sir Walter Calverley, 1st Baronet, and Julia Blackett, daughter of Sir William Blackett, 1st Baronet. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, aged 16 on 28 February 1724. In 1728, he inherited the substantial estates of his uncle Sir William Blackett, 2nd Baronet, at Cambo and Allendale, Northumberland, on condition that he married Elizabeth Orde within twelve months and adopted the name and coat of arms of Blackett. The marriage took place on 29 September 1729 at Newcastle.

He was High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1731–32 and elected Tory Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons for Newcastle-upon-Tyne over seven parliaments from 1734 until his death. He was an Alderman of the City of Newcastle and Mayor five times, in 1735, 1748, 1756, 1764 and 1771.

He inherited Sir William Blackett's mansion at Pilgrim Street, Newcastle and in 1749 inherited his father's baronetcy and estates at Calverley and Esholt, Yorkshire, which he soon sold. He settled at Cambo, where he expended considerable sums on improvements to Wallington Hall, which he remodelled in the then fashionable Palladian style to designs by architect Daniel Garrett. In 1755, he commissioned Garrett to build a folly in the style of a medieval castle on the hillside above Wallington.