Richard Corbet

Bishop Richard Corbet (or Corbett) (1582 – 28 July 1635) was an English clergyman who rose to be a bishop in the Church of England. He is also remembered as a humorist and as a poet, although his work was not published until after his death.

Life

He was born in Ewell in Surrey the son of a prominent nurseryman in Twickenham, Richard Corbet was educated at Westminster School and then studied at both Broadgates Hall and Christ Church, Oxford, gaining his Master of Arts (MA) in 1605.

Having then taken holy orders (he was, irregularly, ordained both deacon and priest on the same day, 26 March 1613, by John Bridges, Bishop of Oxford), he became a Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1617. In consideration of his preaching, which included an oration on the death of the heir to the throne (Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales), James VI and I made him one of the royal chaplains. He also held a number of other positions, including Dean of Christ Church (1620–28), later becoming Bishop of Oxford (1628) and then Bishop of Norwich (1632). He was nominated to the See of Oxford on 30 July 1628 and translated to Norwich on 7 May 1632. He was generally an easy-going man and, although he was anti-Puritan and wrote against them, did little to repress Puritan activities around Norwich when William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, began his campaign against them.

Corbet was also renowned for his humour and many anecdotes were told of him throughout his career. One of those recorded by John Aubrey recalls how "On a market-day he and some of his comrades were at the taverne by the Crosse… The ballad-singer complayned he had no custome, he could not put off his ballads. The jolly Doctor puts off his gowne, and puts on the ballad-singer's leathern jacket, and being a handsome man, and a rare full voice, he presently vended a great many, and had a great audience.