William Danby (coroner) facts for kids

William Danby (who was active between 1542 and 1593) was a lawyer in the 1500s. He served as the Coroner of the Queen's Household during the later years of Queen Elizabeth I's reign. He is best known for leading the investigation into the mysterious death of the famous writer Christopher Marlowe in 1593.

Who Was William Danby?

We don't know exactly when William Danby was born. However, he was likely the same William Danby who joined Lincoln's Inn on August 1, 1542. Lincoln's Inn was a place where lawyers were trained. If this is true, he would have been around the same age as Thomas Walsingham, whose father was a friend and supporter of Christopher Marlowe. This means Danby was probably in his late sixties when he investigated Marlowe's death.

Coroner for the Queen

Around 1589, William Danby took over the job of Coroner of the Queen's Household from Richard Vale. A coroner is an official who investigates deaths that are sudden, unexpected, or suspicious. Their job is to find out how and why someone died.

Danby's name first appeared in official records in October 1589. He worked on an investigation in Shepperton, Middlesex. He worked alongside a local coroner named John Chalkhill. However, this case was later found to be "insufficient" because Chalkhill didn't clearly state that Shepperton was within the "verge." The "verge" was a special area around the Queen's court where the Royal Coroner had authority. This detail was important to explain why Danby, the Queen's Coroner, was involved.

It's not clear if Danby was also a coroner for the county of Kent, even though his predecessor was a coroner for Middlesex. This is important because of the Marlowe case.

The Marlowe Case and Kent

There are two reasons to think Danby might have also been a coroner for Kent:

• It would have been against the law for him to lead the Marlowe investigation by himself unless he was also a coroner for Kent. This is because Deptford, where Marlowe died, was in Kent and also within the "verge."
• A historian named Leslie Hotson claimed he found a William Danby living in Woolwich, Kent, which is close to Deptford. Even though Hotson didn't provide proof, another historian, William Urry, thought it was very likely.

The Mystery of Marlowe's Death

If there hadn't been questions about Danby's report on Christopher Marlowe's death, William Danby's name might not be remembered today.

The official story from the investigation said that Marlowe died in self-defense. This means someone killed him, but it was to protect themselves. However, many modern writers and historians find this hard to believe. They think Marlowe's death was a planned murder. They don't agree on who might have wanted him dead or why.

Some even believe that Marlowe's death was faked. This idea, called the Marlovian theory, suggests that the people present at the time helped Marlowe pretend to die. This would have allowed him to escape being put on trial and possibly executed for his beliefs, which were considered dangerous at the time.

We don't know when William Danby died. There are no records of him leading any other investigations after the Marlowe case. The last we hear of him is on June 15, 1593, when he sent a copy of the Marlowe investigation report to a court called the Court of Chancery.