Thomas Corbett (c. 1687–1751) of Nash, Pembrokeshire, was a British Treasury official and politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1734 to 1751. Corbett was the eldest son of William Corbett of Nanteos, Cardiganshire, and Middle Temple and his wife Eleanor Jones, daughter of Colonel John Jones of Nanteos. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

in 1701 as a Kings Scholar. Corbett joined the navy as an ordinary seaman in 1704, serving under Admiral Sir George Byng as a clerk from 1704 to 1705, and as a secretary from 1705 to 1709. In 1711, he became Byng's personal secretary and trusted assistant. In 1712, when he was at Utrecht, he tried unsuccessfully to obtain the post of secretary to Lord Strafford. He was appointed a clerk in the Admiralty in 1715, when Byng was re-appointed to the board of the Admiralty and secretary to Greenwich Hospital in 1716. He accompanied Byng during the expedition to Sicily from 1718 to 1720 and afterwards published an account. In 1723, he was promoted chief clerk over the heads of all other staff when Byng was Treasurer of the navy, and was made deputy secretary in 1728, when Byng became first lord. Corbett was returned as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

on the Admiralty interest at a by-election on 6 February 1734, and was again successful at the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

. He spoke on 23 April 1735 for the Government against an opposition bill limiting the number of officers in the House of Commons, and in an army debate on 18 February 1737. On 16 November 1739 he opposed a bill moved by Pulteney awarding all prize-money to officers and seamen of the Royal Navy. On 1 February 1740, he defended the navy estimates. In 1740 he was appointed Secretary to the Court of assistants for relief of poor widows of navy officers, at £200 p.a. He was returned again at the

1741 British general election The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw suppo ...

. In 1741 he was appointed joint secretary to the Admiralty, until he succeeded

Josiah Burchett Josiah Burchett (c.1665 – 2 October 1746), of Hampstead, Middlesex, was a British naval administrator and Whig politician, who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1705 and 1741. He was Secretary of the Admiralty in Engl ...

Secretary to the Admiralty S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. History ...

in 1742. He was returned again as MP for Saltash at the

1747 British general election The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henr ...

but in his role at the Admiralty, had become so infirm that John Clevland was appointed joint secretary to help him with the Admiralty business. Corbett married Mary Lloyd of Duke Street, London, on 31 January 1740. He died on 30 April 1751 leaving one daughter.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Corbett, Thomas 1680s births 1751 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754