Peasants to Puddles
My Family History - By Nicky Rowberry
The Corbetts
Page 2
Joseph Corbett was one of my 3xgreat grandfathers. He was born in 1808 in Stretton Grandison, Herefordshire, the second son of James Corbett & Eleanor Abel. I don't know much about his early years, but by 1841 he was living in Westhide as man and wife with Emma Birt, although they don't appear to have actually married until the following year! For more information on Emma Birt's family, please click on the following link:
In 1841 Joseph Corbett was a Blacksmith and Emma Birt was a dressmaker. By 1851, Joseph was not only a blacksmith, but the subpostmaster too, and as such was probably quite an important figure in the Westhide. His eldest son, also Joseph, was already employed aged only 7, carrying letters. My 2x great grandfather James Corbett was also recorded in 1851, aged 4 living with the family at the Post Office. For more information on my 2xgreat grandfather James Corbett and his descendants, please click the following link:
The photograph below shows Westhide Post Office at some later date. Whether this is the same premises that Joseph Corbett lived in, I may never know, but it is of typical Herefordshire style and so is possibly similar at least.
The photograph below shows Westhide church and was taken in May 2005. I haven't managed to find any Corbett gravestones there, although I'm sure some of them at least must have been buried in Westhide.
By 1861 Joseph Corbett seems to have had his own premises on the Parish Road, Westhide. James Corbett was by now old enough to assist his father in the smithy, so this was how he learnt his trade. The table below shows a transcription of the 1861 census (RG9/1817 Folio 140 Page 3 schedule 17)
| The undermentioned Houses are situate within the Boundaries of the | Page 3 | ||||||
| Parish of | Municipal Borough | Municipal Ward of | Parliamentary Borough | Town of | Hamlet of | Ecclesiastical District of | |
| Westhide | Dodmarsh or Lower Side | Weston Deanery | |||||
| No. of Schedule | Road, Street and Name of House | Name and Surname of each person | Relation to Head of Family | Condition | Age | Profession or Occupation | Where Born |
| 17 | Blacksmith's By Parish Road | Joseph Corbett | Head | Married | 52 | Black & White smith | HFDS, Bishop's Frome |
| Emma Corbett | Wife | Married | 45 | Occasional Farm Workwoman | Worcs, Claines | ||
| James Corbett | Son | Unmar | 14 | Assists in Blacksmith's Shop | HFDS, Westhide | ||
| Harriet Corbett | Daur | Unmar | 6 | Scholar | HFDS, Westhide | ||
| Alice Corbett | Daur | Unmar | 4 | HFDS, Westhide | |||
By now, Joseph Corbett senior must have been a man of some standing in the village, not only was he the blacksmith and postmaster, he was also nominated in the Church Council Minutes as Parish Constable in at least 1844 to 1846. He is mentioned in the Church Accounts many times, being paid for his work on the upkeep of things such as the stove, the bell clapper and the clock. The final mention is on 17th March 1865, but this time the payment is to "Mrs Corbett for stove piping & repairing stays - 4.0". Joseph died later in the year on 13th October and perhaps this had something to do with why it was his wife who collected the final payment.
In 1871, with Joseph was dead, Emma Corbett was still in Westhide, a widow, living with her eldest son Joseph, who was by now a blacksmith too. The two of them continued to live together at least until 1891 and possibly until Joseph married in 1898. The table below gives the details from the 1891 census (RG12/2059 Page 2 schedule 13).
| The undermentioned Houses are situated within the Boundaries of the | |||||||
| Civil Parish | Municipal Borough | Municipal Ward | Urban Sanitary District | Town or Village or Hamlet | Rural Sanitary District | Parliamentary Borough or Division | Ecclesiastical Parish or District |
| Westhide | Westhide | Hereford | South Hereford | Westhide | |||
| No. of Schedule | Road, Street and Name of House | Name and Surname of each person | Relation to Head of Family | Condition | Age | Profession or Occupation | Where Born |
| 13 | Dodmarsh | Joseph Corbitt | Head | Single | 47 | Blacksmith | HFDS, Westhide |
| Emma Corbitt | Mother | Widow | 76 | Worcs, Claines | |||
| Henry J Rock | Nephew | 13 | HFDS, Westhide | ||||
Emma died in 1899 in Withington and her death was registered by her son-in-law George Rock, so perhaps she was living with her daughter Harriet in her last years.
Joseph Corbett senior was born in 1808 in Stretton Grandison. His parents were James Corbett and Eleanor Abel. James Corbett was described as both a butcher and a farmer, maybe he sold his own meat from the farm. They lived in Egleton (or Eagleton), Stretton Grandison from at least 1797 until 1823, baptising all their children there. Their first children were twins, but no other sets of twins have been found yet in the Corbetts. They must have moved to Yarkhill at some time after 1823, as their youngest daughter was described as from Grover, Yarkhill when she was buried in 1834.
I am not 100% sure about James Corbett's parentage. For further discussion on the likely earlier generations of the Corbett family, please click on the following link: 
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So far the only grave for a member of the Corbett family I have found is that of Harriet Rock (nee Corbett) and her husband George, in Withington, Herefordshire. |
The family tree below summarises what I know about the above generations of the Corbett family. It is hopefully reasonably accurate, but if you spot any errors, or any relatives, please feel free to E-mail me
Please click on one of the red links on the tree to move to a different page.
If any of the above is of further interest, please feel free to contact me at: n.rowberry@btinternet.com
Peasants to Puddles - My Family History. By Nicky Rowberry