Frances
(Prynce) Corbet 1701-60
The story of a Georgian
marriage
by Barbara Coultonİ
When Celia Fiennes
made her "Great Journey" of 1698 she rode through Corbet
territory, on her way south from Whitchurch to Shrewsbury; what she
noted were the long miles and the wind blowing very cold, though it was
not winter. In this flat area lay Shawbury Park, south of the abandoned
castle and house of Moreton Corbet; it was the home at that time of
Captain Richard Corbet and his wife Judith, daughter of Sir John
Bridgeman of Castle Bromwich. The fifth of their children, George, was
born in that year, following Judith, Andrew, Vincent and Richard; the
children were baptised at Shawbury Church. Moreton Corbet and Acton
Reynold, the seventeenth century homes of the Corbets, were then in the
possession of Corbet Kynaston, descendant in the elder line of the
Royalist Sir Vincent of Civil War times.
Captain Richard
Corbet was the son of Sir Vincent's brother. He still had some rights in
Moreton Corbet and in 1696 obtained permission from the Bishop of
Coventry and Lichfield to build a funerary chapel at the church there.
He still possessed numerous estates in the area; others were recovered
after Corbet Kynaston died childless in June 1740.
As Celia Fiennes continued on her way she viewed the pleasant old houses
of Shrewsbury, and the remains of its abbey, across the Severn to the
south-east of the town. In the abbey gardens grew orange and lemon
trees, myrtles and hollies, with curious flowers and plants in
greenhouses. Of a Wednesday ladies and gentlemen would walk along the
gravelled paths, as in London's St James's Park.
There was a busy
fair there the day Celia Fiennes rode by. Near this livelier scene was
the home of a friend of Captain Corbet. Captain William Prince had a
fine house with panelled rooms and a long gallery. (It is known as
Whitehall, though it is not white.) In front of the gatehouse a grassy
park known by its medieval name, the Gaye, led to Horse Fair.
Captain Prince and his wife Frances had a son who died when a boy; their
daughter Frances was born in 1701. The abbey, then known as Holy Cross,
was their parish church; their son was buried near the altar as was
Captain Prince who died in 1703. His widow did not remarry but was
devoted to her little daughter, her ewe lamb (the younger Frances's own
description). They were close to the town with all its company and
activity - something which young Frances would miss when she married
Andrew Corbet of Shawbury Captain Corbet's wife Judith died in 1701,
when her daughter and eldest child, her namesake, was only seven. In the
same year Richard Corbet was returned as MP for Shropshire. His two
eldest sons found a patron in their uncle Sir John Bridgeman of Blodwell
in Shropshire, and a companion in his son Orlando. The three boys were
educated together by a clergyman at Knockin, and then at Oxford
University.
In April 1718
Richard Corbet made his will, appointing Bridgeman and Sir Robert Corbet
of Adderley as trustees, empowering them to sell property to raise money
to pay debts and provide the portions for his daughter and younger sons.
Judith was to have £60 a year (she would have had much more if she
married) and all her father's books. Vincent, Vin, was still at Oxford
and was to have £45 a year until he was 24, also £200 and the family
livings of Moreton Corbet and Stanton when they fell vacant. George was
to be maintained at the Inns of Court; he became a lawyer. Richard held
a commission in the First Regiment of Horse; he and George were to have
some of their father's cases of pistols, though the best of these, and
all the guns and swords, certain clothes, furniture and plate, and the
best saddle horse, were for the heir, Andrew, now aged 23. Captain
Corbet was buried on 21 April with due ceremony - shields, escutcheons,
silk streamers, silver sconces, candles and tapers, bearers in mourning
- at Moreton Corbet, where his wife already lay.
When one had landed property and debts it was better to raise money than
to sell land. The trustees resorted to the obvious expedient: marriage
to the late Captain Prince's daughter would bring a dowry of £7000.
According to the marriage settlement this sum was specifically for the
payment of debts and portions; if widowed Frances Price would have a
jointure of £600 a year - the usual rate was ten per cent of the dowry.
The heavy document comprises numerous skins of parchment and innumerable
legal details. So, at the age of seventeen, Frances Prince was led, a
sacrificial lamb, to the altar of Holy Cross on 25 May 1719. The parting
between mother and daughter must have been very painful; and Frances was
going among strangers, to the cold winds and colder comfort of Shawbury
Park. Her sister-in-law Judith was probably a formidable figure rather
than a friend; a reputed beauty, who never married but lived an
independent life at nearby Grinshill, she was eight years older than her
brother's wife. Andrew Corbet was a year younger than his sister, who
idolized her brothers. Frances's situation is not hard to imagine.
The marriage was typical of the early Georgian gentry. A woman lost even
legal identity when she married; she was expected to be submissive and
was restricted to a domestic role. Few women were fortunate enough to
enjoy freedom or to have a voice. Judith Corbet could afford to remain
single in comfort but generally marriage was the goal, if not of the
woman herself then of her family; the only hope for independence then
was widowhood.
Society was dominated by men, notorious in England for their hard
drinking, swearing, fighting, gambling, as well as the widely accepted
rights of wenching and whoring. Married women were further subject to
the discomfort and danger of frequent childbearing; average life
expectancy for them was thirty-five years. Frances Corbet bore her first
child the year following her marriage, a son and heir, Andrew, so her
first duty was accomplished.
A year later Elizabeth was born, and in the November of that year, 1721,
Frances's mother died in London and was brought back to Shrewsbury to be
buried with her husband and son. Added to this loss, in the following
year, a daughter named Frances was born and died in December 1726. It
was over four years before another child survived, Catherine, born in
1731. A second son, Richard Prince, was born in 1734 and the last
surviving child, Judith, in 1739. In that year Frances Corbet reached
her 38th birthday and had endured rather than enjoyed twenty years of
marriage.
Most women in her situation remain silent for us, but by chance numerous
letters written in haste or anguish by Frances Corbet survived; they are
nor precisely dated but internal clues and supplementary research
suggest that they begin in 1739 when ill health exacerbated Frances's
distress.
She wrote secretly to the family lawyer begging his and his wife's help.
Henry Jenks practised in Shrewsbury, in a house in High St. His home was
out of town, at the Birches; he had a devoted wife in Jane (as her notes
to him reveal) whose second marriage it was. Another chance survival, a
letter from a friend of Frances's son Andrew, written on board ship one
New Year
off the coast of Malabar, paints a sentimental picture of Shawbury Park
- "retired Shabre" - its trees snow-laden, beagles and
spaniels in the hall, a welcome fireside in the paternal home. The
reality for Frances Corbet was less romantic. Shawbury was so cold in
winter that one might as well live under one of the Poles, she wrote;
she felt imprisoned, unable to leave the place when her own horse fell
lame. To the usual domestic cares were often added the presence of her
bachelor brothers-in-law: the Major kept late hours, Vin spied on her
and made mischief, George sided with his brothers; as good keep an inn
as slave for such a family. As for her husband, he is revealed (and
other references support the picture) as morose, ill-tempered, given to
violent swearing and threats to his wife, critical of visits she made,
forbidding her to have friends of her own, and keeping a wench in his
own bed. She was also concerned for one of her daughters who had fits,
and for another who was sent away to school in London. No wonder she
wanted to get away to Bath during the winter of 1739-40.
She had the support of her doctor, and of the Jenks, but she warned Mr
Jenks not to reveal what she had written to him, when he visited
Shawbury or when Mr Corbet dined at the Birches - he must not have a
scent of any plot. Her aim was achieved in the spring of 1740 and she
was in Bath during May, but her husband was with her (she wondered why
he chose to have "his cross" with him as he never gave her a
good word or smile). He would not let her buy new clothes nor attend the
Public Rooms, though he himself seems to have lost money at Hazard.
Doctors advised a prolonged stay, and she would gladly have been left
there without her husband, but he would not allow it. He did offer what
she called a "sugar plum" in allowing her to write to Jenks
about taking a house in Shrewsbury for the winter, but she knew he might
go back on his word - no Corbet had ever taken a town house he said, and
he must have shied at such additional expense. Nevertheless she wrote
about the matter; her husband never liked writing letters (this too is
confirmed by his eldest son). There was talk of Lady Charlton giving up
tenancy of the house she had in Shrewsbury and Frances wrote to that
lady and her representative Mr Stanier, am apothecary. The house
belonged to Sir Richard Corbett and would need repairs; he was willing
to let Andrew Corbet have it by Michaelmas, especially if Mr Vincent
Corbet could be included in the assessment for electoral purposes, Sir
Richard being MP for Shrewsbury.
The death of Corbet Kynaston in the summer of 1740 meant that certain
family properties might be regained, notably Acton Reynald and the
Buckinghamshire estate of Linslade, both tenanted, as was Harcourt Park.
Andrew Corbet was reluctant to stir himself even in these matters and it
was Frances who begged Mr Jenks and other lawyers to urge him to action
lest they lose the properties. She was concerned for her children's
sake, but her husband was proving "supine in this as in all other
affairs"; though their son Andrew was ready to agree things
amiably, the "Lord and Master" was being difficult.
Another vexation was Sir Richard's dilatoriness at having repairs done
to the Shrewsbury house, though he was eager to have the rent:
"I'll never take house of a Corbet more, such an indolent tribe I
never saw". For all her husband's contempt of her as a woman, when
it suited him he entrusted her to deal with business, such as paying the
servants. She was probably a capable woman, had she been given freedom
to manage affairs beyond the purely domestic.
She had spirit, depressed though she was, and has sharp turns of phrase,
often with allusions which suggest serious reading ("Hudibras"
and "Don Quixote" are examples). Her husband was like Pharaoh
to the children of Israel, or he looked as "big" at her as the
Zsar of Muscovy. He said he could not live without her, nor she without
him, but, she remarked, he was wrong in that for she would gladly have a
separate maintenance if she could. As for Vin, it was punishment enough
to have his company once or twice a week without his meddling in her
affairs as well. She took pleasure in Mr Jenks conversation and in
company, but if she went visiting (which she rarely did) she was accused
of only being easy when galloping abroad. But at home she was alone
except at meals, and then was met with silence and moroseness. "I
cannot accuse myself of anything I've done to deserve the usage I have
yet am a spaniel" - a dog to be kicked, not a pet, presumably. Her
distress aroused the concern of a former servant Elizabeth Brewin who
called on her and wrote to Mr Jenks that her mistress was truly unhappy
- her state would move anyone to pity. This was written one June,
possibly in 1741, soon after Elizabeth Wynn married the Corbet's servant
John Brewin at St Julians in Shrewsbury.
In June 1741 Andrew, junior, now of age, was writing to Mr Jenks about
the possibility of borrowing money, and his hopes of recovering Linslade,
on which he had set his heart. His mother wrote once that he had neither
his father's meanness or crossness of temper, and he seems to have found
his father difficult to deal with. He told Jenks that he knew little of
landed affairs and was willing to take advice. He was at Major Robert's
Academy in London at this time and had to be consulted by his father
about possible sales of property: "Don't acquaint your mother with
this for she always tells me her jointure is upon the whole estate but
God help her she does not know what she talks on." (In fact he
himself had less of an awareness of local matters, being unwilling to
read all documents.) He also wanted his son to dismiss some of his
teachers; this would save money.
Another set of letters suggests continued misery at home for Frances and
an urgent desire to have a house or lodging in Shrewsbury. She may even
have been trying for a separate establishment. Her husband's temper
perhaps moderated with age and he may have relied more on his wife. When
their old and valued steward died in April 1748 Andrew wrote to his son:
"Tom Downs lies in Shabre [Shawbury] Church by your Mother's desire
... your mother wrote to Vin to come to Park and pay the Labourers and
give orders to the servants." By 1749, when her youngest child was
ten, Frances may have won a measure of independence, for the accounts
include monthly sums of £20 sent to her through servants. We can
imagine her happily esconced in her own wainscot parlour, perhaps with
her younger daughters, entertaining her friends, returning visits, and
going about as she chose in the busy town she had known with her mother
when young. The winters of the early 1750's were very severe so the Park
would have been a more uncomfortable prison as ever.
At the end of 1753 Henry Jenks died, having preserved Frances Corbet's
letters. In February 1757 Andrew Corbet died and was buried at Moreton
Corbet. Frances Corbet had at last arrived at the independence of
widowhood, though we have no record of her feelings. She had once
expressed concern at an illness of her husband, saying she had no wish
to be a widow, but then she had young children to care for and would
perhaps have been at the mercy of Vin and the others. Now her youngest
daughter, Judith, (poor Miss Judy as people referred to her in later
life) was grown up - the age Frances Prince had been when she married.
None of her children married during her life-time. In November 1760,
when she was fifty-nine, Frances Corbet died. She was not buried at
Moreton (she escaped eternity in that family vault) but at her old
parish of Holy Cross, in the Abbey with her own family. Their memorial
stone is near the altar where Frances had been married over forty years
earlier.
What was the legacy of this marriage? The year after Frances Corbet's
death her younger son Richard married; he set up a memorial to his
mother in the church at Moreton. Judith Corbet had acted as doyenne of
the family even before her sister-in-law's death. When Vin died in 1759
she wrote to her nephew Andrew that she had promised "the late Dear
Rector of Moreton" to give the church a silver communion plate and
cup. In July 1763 she was with her brother Richard at Bristol: "We
hourly expect the Dear Major's Departure".
She asked Andrew if he could be buried in the chancel of Moreton Church,
with space left for a second coffin (probably her own); he was interred
with military honours. A few weeks later George died. Judith set up a
memorial to her four brothers - with no mention of Andrew's wife Frances
- celebrating their supposed virtues: honour, sweetness of disposition,
affability. She died in 1776, aged 83, attended by Frances Corbet's
eldest daughter Elizabeth who had made a sedate marriage when she was
forty, to Dr Washington Cotes, dean of Lismore; he had died in Bath in
1762 so she was soon left a widow of comfortable means. The gossip was
that she would get most of her aunt's fortune, and she had the house at
Grinshill. The third daughter, Catherine, managed to find a husband when
she was past thirty, an impoverished clergyman named William Clarke whom
she dominated by her status as a Corbet. She bore one daughter and then
seems to have dismissed William from marital duties; she wrote to her
brother Andrew that "for Prudent reasons" she hoped there
would be no brother or sister for the little one. She was for ever
soliciting favours from her amiable brother Andrew, taking her child to
stay at the Park for weeks on end. Andrew appointed Clarke to the living
at Moreton when it fell vacant in 1768.
Andrew never married; he was a kind head of family and a benevolent
squire. Richard had a contented married life at High Hatton Hall. Poor
Miss Judy suffered ill-health but was the only one to call on Catherine
when she was ill. Some of the sisters were mutually suspicious and
critical of each other: Catherine of Elizabeth's friendship with aunt
Judith, Charlotte of Catherine's sponging upon their brother Andrew. We
do not know how Mrs Cotes, Elizabeth, felt but she was well enough
placed to be superior to the others. When she died in 1790 Catherine had
the house at Grinshill. Her memories grew sweeter and she put up a
memorial to Charlotte, Judith (Judy), and her own husband William. She
outlived them all, even her nephews, surviving until 1800: the trouble
given her by her daughter Kitty who got pregnant before marriage and
afterwards wanted to divorce her husband is another story.
The public memorials are there for all to read, but the real story
behind the marble tablets can be discerned only through the private
documents which have by chance survived.
November 1992.
Barbara's
contribution is most welcome and as ever brings to life not only some of
the Corbets who have, until now, just been names but the countryside and
the times,
The memorials which she mentions were photographed by Joe and I when we
visited Moreton Corbet in June 1992 so I am now able to give the words
which appear upon them. Firstly that of Frances Corbet nee Prynce.
Sacred to the Memory
of FRANCES the wife of ANDREW CORBET of Shawbury Park in this County,
Esq. only Daughter and Heir of WILLIAM PRYNCE of Shrewsbury, Esq. and
whose Remains were interred in the Abbey Church of that Town the 21st
day of November 1760, aged 83 years. Also of RICHARD PRYNCE CORBET of
High Hatton in this County, Esq. youngest son of the said ANDREW and
FRANCES CORBET who married MARY only Daughter and Heir of John Wickstead
of Wem of this County Gentleman and whose Descendants perpetuate this
Family. He died on 31st day of January 1779 aged 44 years. Also of
ELIZABETH eldest Daughter of the said ANDREW and FRANCES CORBET and wife
of Revd. Washington Cotes, M.A. Dean of Lismore in the Kingdom of
Ireland who departed this life 10the day of June 1790, aged 66 Years.
And also of ANDREW CORBET of Shawbury Park Esq the eldest son of the
said ANDREW and FRANCES CORBET who died a Bachelor on the ... April 1796
aged 76 (?) Years.
Sacred also to the Memory of JUDITH CORBET and RICHARD CORBET two of the
children of the before mentioned RICHARD PRYNCE CORBET who died in their
infancy.
Next the memorial
erected by Judith Corbet to her four brothers:
Within this Church lye Interred the four Sons of Richard Corbet Esq of
Shawbury and Lady Judeth his wife daughter of Sir John Bridgeman Bart of
Castle Bromwich in the county of Warwick. ANDREW the eldest whose
descendants perpetuate the Family. VINCENT the second son was Rector of
Stoke upon Tern and of this Church. RICHARD the third son was Major in
the first Regiment of Horse on the Irish Establishment. GEORGE the
youngest was called to the Bar.
Their just notions of Honour, Sweetness of Disposition and Distinguished
Affability procured them an Universal Esteem And from the sincerest
affection Judeth Corbet their only sister erects this Monument to their
Memories. 1770. Happy in Transmitting to Posterity this true and
grateful reflection that their Love for each other never knew an
Interruption A Blessing equally shared by their sorrowful survivor.
JUDETH CORBET died December 2nd 1776 Aged 83 Having imitated Christ in
all imitable Virtues, She cheerfully departed with a holy Trust
committing her Soul unto God as unto a faithful Creator.
Charlotte's memorial
(daughter of Andrew and Frances Corbet nee Prynce)
Sacred to the Memory of CHARLOTTE CORBET third daughter of ANDREW CORBET
of Shawbury Hall Esqr who departed this Life .. June 1 .. Aged 30 (?)
Also of the Revd. WILLIAM CLARKE who was 18 Years Rector of this Parish
departed this Life much beloved and lamented April 1786 Aged 60 who
married CATHARINE only daughter of the above ANDREW CORBET Esqr and left
an only daughter CATHARINE.
Also of JUDITH CORBET fifth daughter of ANDREW CORBET Esqr She departed
this Life 29th June 1786 Aged 37 (?) Her Sweetness of Temper Patience
under Afflictions and other Christian Virtues were highly worthy of
Imitation And of CATHARINE Relict of the above Revd. WILLIAM CLARKE who
erected this Monument as a testimony of Her affectionate regard to her
beloved Relatives. THIS MONUMENT was erected by CATHARINE Widow of the
above Revd. WILLIAM CLARKE as a token of the sincere Affection she had
for her departed Relatives.
Mary/Margaret Corbet
nee Wickstead, Richard Prynce Corbet's wife:
Sacred to the Memory of MARGARET, Relict of RICHARD PRYNCE CORBET of
High Hatton Esq and MOTHER of SIR ANDREW CORBET of Acton Reynold Hall,
Bart. Her mannered mildness and benevolence of disposition added to a
constantly prevailing sense of the duties and promises of Religion which
they invariably procured for her thro' the whole of her life the ....
and unfeigned affection and respect of all to whom her amiable qualities
were known, rendered the moments in which She resigned it peculiarly
tranquil and serene, animated as they were, with the full and certain
hope of a BLESSED IMMORTALITY. She died July 31st 1813 aged 73 years.
The son of Richard
Prynce Corbet and Margaret nee Wickstead, Andrew Corbet (later Sir) of
Shawbury Park took out insurance on the mansion in 1797 and again in
1802. (This item was detailed in an earlier issue of the journal. It
gives us some idea of the estates facilities: Shawbury Park and Mansion
house, laundry & brewhouse, range of stabling, 2nd range of
stabling, barn & buildings, household furniture & linen, stock
of grain & hay.
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