Sir Vincent Corbet, 1st Baronet (13 June 1617 – 28 December 1656) was an English lawyer and politician who sat for Shropshire in the House of Commons in the Short Parliament of 1640. He fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
Sir Andrew Corbet, of Moreton Corbet, Shropshire. Sir Andrew was a grandson of another Sir Andrew Corbet, a distinguished soldier, politician and administrator of the Elizabethan period, whose career had marked the zenith of the power and influence of the Shropshire Corbet family. However the family had suffered dynastic and financial woes since the death of the first Sir Andrew in 1578. His two older sons, Robert and Richard had both died without leaving a male heir, and the latter had run up over £6,000 worth of debts and liabilities. Their youngest brother, Sir Vincent, had struggled with some success, to stabilise, if not rectify, the financial situation. Part of the recovery plan was the marriage between his son, Andrew, and Elizabeth Boothby.
Elizabeth Boothby was the step-daughter of Richard Corbet, the daughter of his second wife, Judith Austin. Judith was an assertive widow, who had gathered wealth through three marriages, and well-able to exploit deficiencies in her jointure arrangement, to the detriment of the Corbets' delicate finances. By marrying Andrew to her young daughter, Sir Vincent gave Judith an interest in the Corbet estates.
Sir Andrew and Lady Elizabeth had at least seven sons and nine daughters, naming the first son and heir Vincent, after Sir Andrew's father. Sir Andrew went on to become a notable MP for Shropshire. After supporting George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham in the reign of James VI and I, he became a strong opponent of absolute monarchy under Charles and voted for the Petition of Right. His son and heir was to take a very different political stance.
The family tree below shows Sir Vincent Corbet's ancestry and relationship to some other Shropshire Corbets involved in the Civil War.
Vincent Corbet was baptized at Moreton Corbet on 13 July 1617, the parish register unusually noting the date of his birth: 13 June. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford on 24 October 1634. After the death of his father, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 11 November 1637.
In April 1640, Corbet was elected Member of Parliament for Shropshire in the Short Parliament. He gained military experience in the King's war against the Scottish Presbyterians. For his support, the King created him baronet of Moreton Corbet on 29 January 1642.
In the late summer of 1642, both Parliament and the King began mobilising their forces, the former under the Militia Ordinance, the latter under Commissions of array. Corbet was appointed a Commissioner of array for Shropshire and garrisoned his home at Moreton Corbet Castle in the King's cause. His second cousin, Sir John Corbet, was one of the three MP sent by parliament to take over the county militia. However the parliamentary muster was disrupted on 1 August by Francis Ottley, who quickly took up the leading position among Shropshire's Royalist gentry. Sir Vincent Corbet was left free to drill a royalist muster at Atcham, a few miles east of Shrewsbury, the following day.
The situation hung in the balance for another month. However, on 30 August, Shrewsbury's council agreed a policy of non-resistance to the King. Although this was far short of outright support, Ottley used it to encourage the King to march to Shrewsbury from his initial muster at Nottingham. The Royalist army occupied the town from 20 September until 12 October, overwhelming all resistance, and subjecting the town and surrounding areas to the looting and extortion of the ill-paid soldiery. Ottley, now knighted, was left in control of the town, although he was not formally made governor until January 1643.
In December Corbet a number of Shropshire gentry resolved to establish a regiment of dragoons.
We whose names are hereunder written, do hereby engage ourselves, each to the other, and promise upon the faith and word of a Gentleman, that we will do our utmost endeavours, both by ourselves and friends, to raise as well for the defence of our King and country as our own particular safeties, one entire Regiment of dragooners, and with our lives to defend those men's fortunes and families, who shall be contributors herein to their abilities. And for the most speedy expedition of the said service, we have thought fit to entreat Sir Vincent Corbet, formerly Captain of the Horse for this County, to be our chief commander over the aforesaid Regiment.
The signatories were headed by Sir Richard Lee, 2nd Baronet, MP for Shropshire until expelled by Parliament, and included Ottley, the governor.
A muster was held at Battlefield, north of Shrewsbury, on 20 December. Great hopes were placed on the regiment, which was expected to recruit a thousand men. Only later did it become public that the recruiting drive had been largely unsuccessful, with only 60 responding initially. However, Corbet and his men were summoned to the fighting in Cheshire in January.
Chester was a vital Royalist stronghold, allowing the King to draw on supplies and reinforcements from Ireland, but the county was largely Parliamentarian in allegiance. The attempt to use Shropshire troops in Cheshire was dogged from the start by rivalries and poor communications. Orlando Bridgeman, the chief justice and effective deputy governor of Chester, rehearsed these problems in a letter to Sir Francis Ottley on 20 January: Corbet, he complained, had been instructed to advance from Whitchurch, Shropshire to Tarporley, well inside Cheshire, but had refused on the grounds that his force was too small. Bridgeman urged Ottley to appeal to the Shropshire gentry for reinforcements, as he believed an attack by Sir William Brereton, the main Parliamentarian commander in the region, imminent. However, John Harrington, a relative of Ottley, made clear the hopelessness of such a recruitment strategy in a letter of 25 January:
I find that our County and Especially these parts are very slow to keep themselves secure and to satisfie the com'on expectation, the Divells have got possession of the Swyne and they are running into their own Ruin, I see very well that the design of raising a Thousand Dragoons is in a manner quashed every Hundred is to find 10 and every Alottment according to their proportions, but suppose they delude you they will say much and do nothing (as it seems many have done in this expedition of Sir Vincent Corbett) what will you do then?
Corbet joined forces with Sir Thomas Aston, 1st Baronet, hoping that reinforcements would arrive. On 28 January Bridgeman wrote to Shrewsbury, preparing Ottley for bad news: Aston had moved toward Stafford and Brereton had slipped into Nantwich behind him. Later the same day, Aston wrote to explain what had happened: approaching what they thought was the friendly town of Nantwich, they had found it occupied by about 140 Parliamentarians. After a couple of attempts to storm the town, they withdrew to regroup, only to come face to face with Brereton's main force. They fought their way through: "both sides are loosers, what wee know not, night being theyre, friend our enemy." Aston requested musketeers to make good their losses. Corbet's account, written the following morning at Market Drayton, also sought to portray the encounter as a draw, but ominously asked not for soldiers but surgeons.
This in hast, is onely to give you notice, of a skirmish we had, wth Breartons and ye Nantwich forces, I cannot as yet certify of any p'ticular passage, onely thus far be satisfied for ye present; the relation of it is not very good neither is it very bad, this much I would request you yt wth all Speede, you will send unto Whitchurch all ye Churgieons you can possible p'vide for wee are in grt want of them.
Brereton's account of the skirmish avers that the force he sent to occupy Nantwich was a mere fifty dragoons. When the Royalists tried to lay an ambush, the local people kept the Parliamentarians informed. When, his main force confronted the Royalists, who betrayed their own position by their lighted musket matches, Corbet's dragoons "were presentlie disordered and many of them ran awaye withoute ever giving fire." He thought Aston was wounded and both he and Corbet had been captured briefly but were able to escape under cover of darkness to Over, abandoning their arms in the process. He considered his own troops' performance "far beyonde what could bee expected of us," considering that they had just marched from Leek. The participants differed little over facts but considerably over interpretation. The behaviour of the Royalist commanders led to accusations of cowardice, but was just as easily interpreted as prudence. Certainly Corbet's disobedience at Whitchurch the previous week had saved his small force from being completely cut off in hostile territory. Harrington again pointed out the obvious weaknesses: "I was hartily sorry to see S'r Vincent Corbett so poorly furnished with raw Soldiers and Young Commanders."