CORBET, Sir Andrew (1522-78), of Moreton Corbet, Salop.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

b. 1 Nov. 1522, 1st s. of Roger Corbet of Moreton Corbet and Linslade, Bucks. by Anne, da. of Andrew Windsor, 1st Lord Windsor; bro. of Jerome. m. by 1542, Jane, da. of Sir Robert Needham of Shavington, Salop, 6s. inc. Richard and Robert 5da. suc. fa. 20 Dec. 1538. Kntd. 3 Oct. 1547.1

Offices Held

Escheator, Salop 1546-7; j.p. Salop 1547-d., Glos., Herefs., Worcs. 1554, q. Salop by 1561; sheriff, Salop 1550-1, 1555-6, 1569-70; commr. relief 1550, goods of churches and fraternities 1553, loan 1558, musters 1562; member, council in the marches of Wales 1553, v.-pres. Aug. 1575-Aug. 1577; steward, Ruyton Patria, Salop by 1566; ld. lt. Salop 1569.2

Biography

Andrew Corbet was an adolescent when his father died and in 1539 his wardship was granted to his uncle Richard Corbet. He received livery of his lands, spread over several counties, in 1543 and three years later he made a significant addition to his Shropshire estate by securing a grant from the crown of the manor of Redcastle for some £550. He served in the Scottish campaigns of Edward VI and was knighted for his services by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. He seems to have attached himself to Warwick, who on becoming president of the council in the marches asked the 5th Earl of Shrewsbury whether Corbet could be excused service in Scotland: it is possible that this marks the beginning of Corbet’s association with the council in the marches. He certainly became an active official in his own county: besides sitting on the bench and serving as sheriff, he was for many years responsible for musters in Shrewsbury, which made him several gifts.3

Corbet also inherited a parliamentary tradition: two of his ancestors had been knights of the shire in the previous century, his father had sat in the Parliament of 1529 and his uncle Reginald in those of 1542 and following years. He and his other uncle Richard were to alternate as knights for Shropshire in the last two Parliaments of Mary and the first two of Elizabeth. In the Parliament of 1555 Corbet gave at least one indication of the Protestant leaning which was to mark him later: both he and Reginald Corbet were among the Members who voted against one of the government’s bills, an expression of dissent made the more noteworthy by the fact that he had just been pricked sheriff for the second time. In the last year of the reign he was a commissioner in Shropshire for the loan towards the cost of the war.4

Corbet’s career under Elizabeth saw no slackening of his public activity, notably in the marches of Wales. He died on 16 Aug. 1578.5

Ref Volumes: 1509-1558

Author: Alan Harding

Notes

  • 1. Date of birth given at fa.’s i.p.m., C142/60/119. Vis. Salop (Harl. Soc. xxviii), 135-7; C142/187/56.
  • 2. CPR, 1547-8, p. 88; 1553, p. 358, 415; 1553-4, pp. 19-20, 23, 25; Trans. Salop Arch. Soc. (ser. 2), ii. 221, lii. 116; P. H. Williams, Council in the Marches of Wales. 347; R. Flenley, Cal. Reg. Council, Marches of Wales, 111, 144. 173; HMC Hatfield, i. 443.
  • 3. PCC 24 Dyngeley; LP Hen. VIII, xiv, xviii; HMC 15th Rep. X. 75; CSP Scot. i. 161, 438; HMC Shrewsbury and Talbot, ii. 26; E. Lodge, Illustrations, iii. 10; H. Owen and J. B. Blakeway, Shrewsbury, i. 350.
  • 4. A.E. Corbet, Fam. Corbet, passim; Guildford mus. Loseley 1331/2; APC, vi. 192.
  • 5. C142/187/56.