Andrew Corbet was an adolescent when his father died and in 1539 his wardship was granted to his uncle Richard Corbet. He received livery of his lands, spread over several counties, in 1543 and three years later he made a significant addition to his Shropshire estate by securing a grant from the crown of the manor of Redcastle for some £550. He served in the Scottish campaigns of Edward VI and was knighted for his services by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. He seems to have attached himself to Warwick, who on becoming president of the council in the marches asked the 5th Earl of Shrewsbury whether Corbet could be excused service in Scotland: it is possible that this marks the beginning of Corbet’s association with the council in the marches. He certainly became an active official in his own county: besides sitting on the bench and serving as sheriff, he was for many years responsible for musters in Shrewsbury, which made him several gifts.3PCC 24 Dyngeley; LP Hen. VIII, xiv, xviii; HMC 15th Rep. X. 75; CSP Scot. i. 161, 438; HMC Shrewsbury and Talbot, ii. 26; E. Lodge, Illustrations, iii. 10; H. Owen and J. B. Blakeway, Shrewsbury, i. 350.
Corbet also inherited a parliamentary tradition: two of his ancestors had been knights of the shire in the previous century, his father had sat in the Parliament of 1529 and his uncle Reginald in those of 1542 and following years. He and his other uncle Richard were to alternate as knights for Shropshire in the last two Parliaments of Mary and the first two of Elizabeth. In the Parliament of 1555 Corbet gave at least one indication of the Protestant leaning which was to mark him later: both he and Reginald Corbet were among the Members who voted against one of the government’s bills, an expression of dissent made the more noteworthy by the fact that he had just been pricked sheriff for the second time. In the last year of the reign he was a commissioner in Shropshire for the loan towards the cost of the war.4A.E. Corbet, Fam. Corbet, passim; Guildford mus. Loseley 1331/2; APC, vi. 192.
Corbet’s career under Elizabeth saw no slackening of his public activity, notably in the marches of Wales. He died on 16 Aug. 1578.5C142/187/56.