Roger Corbet

Sir Roger Corbet (died 1395), of Moreton Corbet, Shropshire was a landowner and politician who was a knight of the shire for Shropshire in three Parliaments of England. He was involved in a series of complex and sharply contested property disputes with members of his own family.

Background A remaining part of the medieval keep at Moreton Corbet. The castle was heavily modified in the mid-16th century by Sir Andrew Corbet and an entirely new building on the Italian model begun next to it by his son, Robert. Roger Corbet was the third son of: Sir Robert Corbet (died 1375) of Moreton Corbet. The Corbets of Moreton Corbet were descended from the Corbet family of Caus Castle, who had been important landowners in the Welsh Marches from the time of William the Conqueror. The senior line of the Corbets at Caus had petered out in 1347 and the properties passed to Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford The cadet branch made their home at Moreton Corbet Castle, then a significant stronghold in north Shropshire. Elizabeth, daughter of Fulk, 1st Baron Strange of Blackmere. The Le Strange family were another important dynasty of Marcher Lords. Fulk le Strange was called to parliament by Edward II and served him as Seneschal of Gascony, a key post in the administration of the remaining Plantagenet possessions in France. The title could be passed through both male and female, and in 1383 it passed via female descent and marriage to the Talbot family, later to become Earls of Shrewsbury. later twice MP for Staffordshire. Hence they initiated a series of transactions, some involving their daughters, intended to put most of the estates in tail, and favouring in particular Fulk and Roger. In fact, litigation began even before the death of Sir Robert. In 1374 Elizabeth and Ipstones went to the Court of Common Pleas to try to get possession of the manor of Braunstone in Leicestershire, which had been given to Thomas Erdington, the son of Roger's sister, Margaret. Bletchley, where Elizabeth established a court leet; and Hopton Wafers, in the south of Shropshire. When she died, in 1381, these passed to Roger. Sir Fulk himself died in 1382 and the entailed estates also passed to Roger: Shawbury, Moreton Corbet, Habberley, Rowton and three other Shropshire manors. The unentailed Corbet estates were to go to Fulk's daughter, another Elizabeth, who was still a minor.

However, there were serious complications regarding four of the young Elizabeth's properties. Under a fine levied around 1363, Like most of their peers, the Corbets had rented out most of their demesne lands to tenants by the 1380s, under a variety of arrangements: tenancy at will, customary tenancies, sharecropping. The times were turbulent and uncertain and the Black death had made labour scarce, expensive, and hard to manage. Landed families were better off with a predictable income from rents than trying to exploit the land for themselves in the face of difficult conditions and volatile markets.

Family tree The family tree illustrates the main lines of descent involved in the property conflicts of the late 14th century.

Political and military career

Apart from the property dispute with his own family, there were few occasions when Corbet's behaviour gave cause for concern to the authorities. In general he was accepted as a good guarantor of others' goodwill. In 1378 he and Sir Fulk stood surety for James Audley, 2nd Baron Audley, However, while Sir Fulk lived, he was head of the family and Roger was a minor, if respected, figure in the county.

However, Roger Corbet was made a Justice of the Peace within a year of his brother's death and in the same year, 1383, was elected twice to the House of Commons in the Parliaments of February and August. a close friend of Corbet, who had supported him and Darras before the king in the previous year. Cheyne was probably an older and certainly a more experienced man: a veteran of war in Ireland and of at least six previous parliaments, and a supporter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, whose family the Cheynes had long served.

Death However, Corbet's time as head of the family was fairly short. He died in September 1395 and his widow, Margaret, died only two months later. The heir, Robert, was below the age of majority and in 1397 his marriage and wardship were granted to Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester. However, Henry IV forced Worcester to relinquish the wardship to John Burley, a Shropshire MP and a retainer of Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel.

Marriage and family Sir Roger Corbet married Margaret Erdington, daughter of Sir Giles Erdington of Erdington, Warwickshire. They seem to have had at least two sons Robert Corbet (1383–1420) of Moreton Corbet, Sir Roger's heir, was twice MP for Shropshire. Joan Corbet Eleanor Corbet

Footnotes