Jerome Corbet

Jerome Corbet was an Elizabethan politician and lawyer of Shropshire landed gentry background. A brother of Sir Andrew Corbet 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.

Jerome Corbet was the youngest son of

Jerome Corbet's parents married because Roger Corbet's father died when he was about 12 years old and his marriage and wardship fell into the hands of Windsor, who arranged Roger's marriage to his own daughter, Anne. Both Corbet and Windsor family connections were to prove useful to Jerome, who was faced by the prospect of earning his own living, as he was not destined to succeed to the Corbet estates.

Roger Corbet died in 1538. 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". This part of the will was probably transcribed from an earlier version made before Jerome was born and inadequately amended, so Jerome was still an infant at the time of his father's death. Jerome and his brothers were each left an allowance of £6 13s. 4d. per year from age 21 until they could earn their own living of at least £20 a year.

When Anne, his mother, died, probably in 1551, she was still trying to secure the future of her younger children. Her first priority was her unmarried daughter, Elizabeth, for whose marriage she left 300 marks, equal to £200 – a sum which was to be divided between Walter, Robert and Jerome if Elizabeth died unwed. However, Anne's next priority was to leave an allowance of £9 per annum for Jerome's education.

Following in the footsteps of his uncle Reginald Corbet, who had faced a similar situation, Jerome entered the Middle Temple in 1555. Apparently, his brother Walter was also at that time studying for the bar as the Middle Temple Parliament noted:

The admission date suggests, but cannot prove, a birth date around 1537, as 18 was commonly the age of admission to legal training.

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