Richard Corbet (died 1606)

[1] The family historian Augusta Corbet, maintained that: However, the school was not opened until 1552 and Ashton was not appointed until 1561, so it is unlikely that Richard studied under his headship for more than a couple of years, if at all.

It is unclear from such scanty evidence which of Sir Andrew's sons studied at the school, although the argument for Richard being among the three mentioned is much stronger than for his elder brother.

"[1] However, this seems to rest on Augusta Corbet's construction of events, i.e. that he "lived chiefly at Meriden, where he had inherited his first wife's property in Warwickshire.

[7] The vendor was one William Foster, who had bought the manor some years earlier from the poet Edward Aglionby of Temple Balsall.

Robert Corbet, Richard's older brother, died on 30 May 1583, having contracted bubonic plague while visiting their uncle Walter in London.

He also inherited and attempted, but failed to complete the unfinished Italianate extension his brother was building at Moreton Corbet castle.

His brother's two young daughters had to be married and large estates had to be committed in their settlements: Elizabeth, the eldest, took the newly acquired Meriden, among others, on her marriage to Sir Henry Wallop.

Walter Leveson of Lilleshall Abbey, his brother-in-law, was in deep financial difficulties because he had embarrassed the government by allowing his ships to attack allied Dutch and Danish vessels.

[12] In 1590 Corbet, together with Leveson's son, Richard, successfully petitioned the Privy Council to gain access him in the Wood Street Counter.

[13] In 1591, Robert Corbet and Vincent, his youngest brother, bought a 10-year lease on all Leveson's ironworks, furnaces, forges, and hammers in Shropshire.

[1] In 1589 Corbet and his entourage attacked the house of a widow called Elizabeth Vernon, made off with her goods and cattle and laid waste her corn.

[16] As he had great power in the region, both formal and informal, the Privy Council wrote that "the poor widow feareth she shall not receive such good measure in justice for her repossessing and restitution as were requisite.

It was "an extraordinary episode for a gentleman of his standing," although not unique: it was the sort of behaviour indulged by coal and iron magnates of the region, like Lord Dudley and Gilbert Lyttelton.

"[17] However, in 1585 Lea had come to the notice of the Council for his large debts to a widow called Mrs Knotesforth and for fraudulently getting her to assent to a deed of gift in his favour.

In 1596, during a serious food shortage, Corbet was instructed by the Privy Council to clamp down on the brewing operations of two alehouses in Market Drayton, known as the Brethren.

As this "would serve for the relief of many poor people, Corbet was ordered to restrict their brewing to the minimum necessary for their customers and to forbid tippling and disorderly drinking in the said alehouses.

The combined Corbet and Leveson families were more than a match for any competition, although there was never a contested election for Shropshire county seats in Elizabeth's reign.

Nothing is known of Corbet's parliamentary work, but as first knight, he would have been the county's representative on the subsidy committee, a key financial body dealing with taxation.

He gave his second wife, Judith, £300 in recognition of her allowing him to supplement her jointure with tenants' leases, an expensive way to save money.