page_title: Richard Corbet (died 1606)
section_title: Background and education
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Corbet (died 1606) / Background and education
caption_attribution_description: English: The Library (formerly Shrewsbury School) Taken from the castle grounds in spring.
context_page_description: Sir Richard Corbet was an English landowner and politician of the Elizabethan period.
context_section_description: Richard Corbet the second son of 
  Sir Andrew Corbet, son of Roger Corbet and Anne Windsor, of Moreton Corbet, Shropshire. The Corbets had an association with Shropshire stretching back to the Norman Conquest and centred on Moreton Corbet Castle, still a stronghold in the Tudor period. In the reign of Elizabeth I, they were at the head of the county's Protestant landed gentry. Sir Andrew was an energetic and able administrator, a member of the Council in the Marches of Wales for a quarter century and its leader and vice-president from 1574–77.
  Jane Needham, daughter of Sir Robert Needham of Shavington Hall, Shropshire.
  His parent's marriage had been arranged by Sir Andrew's uncle, Richard Corbet, who acquired his wardship after the early death of Roger Corbet. Their first son was Robert. Richard was born in about 1545, two or three years after his brother. His name had been common in the Corbet family for generations but the choice might have been a tribute to his great-uncle Richard, who remained close to Sir Andrew and his family even after the wardship ended in 1543. Sir Andrew and Jane were to have four more sons and six daughters.
  Richard Corbet was probably educated at Shrewsbury School. The family historian Augusta Corbet, maintained that:
  "It was during this decade (the 1550s) that Sir Andrew's three elder sons were being polished by learning at the Shrewsbury School, where both scholars and Master were justly famous, and Shrewsbury was then as now proud of them. We find that 3s. 9d. was spent on some occasion "upon Mr Corbet's sones" and Mr. Aston. It was to the unremitting fostering care and his (Mr. Aston's) renown for learning that the School in great measure owed its first years of prosperity."
  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. The Corbets had numerous links to the school. Reginald Corbet, another of Sir Andrew's uncles, had been a leading figure in agitating for its establishment. The first head, Thomas Ashton knew Sir Andrew well and wrote to Burghley praising him. The school had a Calvinist ethos and was the obvious place for Protestant gentry to send their sons: Philip Sidney was placed there by his father, Henry Sidney, the president of the Council in the Marches, and a close friend of the Corbets.
caption: The former Shrewsbury School building, now the town's library. It is probable that Richard Corbet was educated at the school.
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