Henry Corbin
| Henry Corbin | |
|---|---|
 Hon Henry Corbin of Buckingham House, Middlesex, Virginia.png Portrait of Hon Henry Corbin of Buckingham House, Middlesex, Virginia | |
| Born | 1629 Hall End, Warwickshire, England |
| 💀Died | 1675/76 Buckingham House, Middlesex County, Virginia1675/76 |
| Resting place | Buckingham House, Middlesex County, Virginia |
| 🏳️ Nationality | British |
| 💼 Occupation | Planter, Agent |
| Known for | Virginia Planter |
Henry Corbin (1629-1675/76) was the third son of a Warwickshire family who made his first voyage to the colonies for his family's London-based business in 1654 when he was 25. Corbin had to spend longer than planned in St. Mary's City, then the capital of Maryland, because on the voyage across the Atlantic there was a storm of such ferocity that the crew thought it must have been caused by a witch. The crew alleged that a woman on board was a witch and hanged the old woman. Henry was a witness when the matter came to trial in Maryland.[1]
Career
While in St. Mary's City he became acquainted with William Eltonhead of Lancashire, who had moved to Maryland to oversee the interests of Lord Baltimore, the proprietor of the Maryland colony. Two years later, Henry was again in Maryland and learned that William's 26-year-old niece Alice Eltonhead Burnham had recently become a widow. Henry may have decided to marry her even before he met her. Alice Eltonhead, the youngest of the five Eltonhead sisters who sailed to America around 1645, may have waited until her 16th birthday to marry Rowland Burnham, a successful tobacco planter with a large tract of land in Middlesex County, Virginia -- across the wide Rappahannock River from Lancaster County, Virginia at the southern tip of the Northern Neck. In 1655, when Rowland wrote his will -- before setting off on a voyage to London -- he and Alice were parents of three sons and a daughter. The will left Alice one-third of his land, one-third of the next tobacco crop and all of the household furnishings and plate. Henry Corbin lost no time in proposing to the young widow whose beauty may be guessed at by viewing a portrait of her eldest daughter at the Lee estate, Stratford Hall in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
He served in the Virginia House of Burgesses for Lancaster, Virginia in at least the 1659-60 session.[2]
He served on the council of the royal governor of Virginia for most of the two decades he was married to Alice.
Death
He was killed during a Native American uprising in 1676. In 1677, Alice wrote to her English brothers-in-law to turn down their invitation to come back to England. She is sending her two sons to them so their uncles can oversee their English education. She also wants her brothers-in-law to invest in English land with her sons' share of the proceeds from the sale of Corbin tobacco. Alice says that her comfort is the companionship of her five daughters -- three of whom are of marriageable age in 1677. And she has an announcement to make. She is about to take on husband number three, Henry Creyke.
Evidence of the high esteem Henry Corbin had for Alice Eltonhead is the concern he had for the future of their daughters. They would be given large tracts of land when they reached marriageable age -- to assure that they could select their husbands from among the most eligible men in Virginia. Letitia, the eldest born in 1657, had a dowry of 2,000 acres when she married Col. Richard Lee II in May 1674 in a banqueting hall in Westmoreland County built for the occasion by the fathers of the bride and the groom.
Letitia's four sisters each received 1000 acres of land. Alice, born in 1659, married Philip Lightfoot. Winifred, born in 1662, waited until she was 20 to marry Leroy Griffin. Ann, born in 1664, married William Tayloe (the nephew) in 1685 and moved across the Rappahannock River to live at Tayloe's Quarter. Frances, born in 1666, married Edmund Jennings in 1688.
Their brother Gawin, born in 1669, took over the estate where his parents had made their home when he returned from his school years in England. Thomas, born in 1668, stayed in England.
References
- ↑ "The Corbin Family (Continued)". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Virginia Historical Society. 29 (3): 374–382. 1921. JSTOR 4243833. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
- ↑ H.R. McIlwaine, ed. (1914). Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1619-1658/59. 2. Richmond: Colonial Press, E. Waddey Company. p. 7. Search this book on
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