Jerome Corbet
A brother of Sir Andrew Corbet[1] and, like him, a supporter of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, he became an MP for Bridgnorth and a member of the Council in the Marches of Wales.
His will mentions that he has three sons beside Andrew, his heir, but the scribe failed to include Jerome's name alongside his brothers, Walter and Robert, referring instead vaguely to "brethren".
Following in the footsteps of his uncle Reginald Corbet, who had faced a similar situation, Jerome entered the Middle Temple in 1555.
By this time Corbet had married Dorothy Poyner, a twice widowed heiress who brought him a home and landed estate at Beslow, near Wroxeter, when her father died in 1578.
He was now clearly committed too and actively involved in the administration of his own and neighbouring counties, and it is likely that Corbet gave up his London base, moving from private practice to work mainly or entirely as a government lawyer.
However, boroughs, dependent for their liberty and prosperity on their legal status, frequently sought out lawyers to represent them, assuming that they would be in a good position to understand, influence and redraft legislation.
He is shown dressed in contemporary fashion, with a Latin motto in the top left corner of the painting: Dum spiro spero – While I still breathe, I hope.
She had previously been married twice to Shropshire landowners: to James Barker of Haughmond Abbey and to Thomas Wolryche of Dudmaston Hall.
The Gatacres were prominent recusants and the marriage signified to the Corbets defection from the true faith they had fought for to Roman Catholicism.
Evidently they initially refused to make a marriage settlement on their daughter but had been forced to come to terms through a legal action by Gatacre.
