Colonel Edward Corbett (30 December 1817 – 6 January 1895)^[1] was a British land-owner^[2] and Conservative Party politician from an old Norman family in Shropshire. He held a seat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1877.

Corbett was the oldest surviving son of Panton Corbett of Longnor Hall in Shropshire and Leighton Hall in Montgomeryshire.^[3] His mother was Louisa Favoretta Jones, from Lichfield in Staffordshire, and his father had been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Shrewsbury from 1820 to 1830.^[3]

Corbett was educated at Eton.^[3] He joined the British Army in November 1837 as an ensign in the 51st regiment, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.^[3] He switched to the 72nd Highlanders in 1841, and retired from the army in October 1844.^[3] By 1874 he was living in Longnor Hall^[4] and held the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Shropshire militia,^[4] and the honorary rank of colonel (which was bestowed in 1883).^[5] He resigned his commission in the militia in October 1884, but was permitted to retain his rank.^[6]

By 1868 Corbett was a Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Shropshire, and a Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire.^[7]

He was elected at the 1868 general election as an MP for South Shropshire,^[8][9] having expressed confidence in Disraeli and promised voters "to resist to the utmost of his power Mr. Gladstone's attempt to uproot and destroy the Protestant Church".^[2] Corbett was re-elected in 1874.^[4] When he resigned his seat on 7 August 1877, by taking the post of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds,^[10] the announcement was described by The Times newspaper as "sudden".^[11]

In 1842 Corbett married Elizabeth Anne Theresa, the daughter of Robert Sholl^[3] and had five sons and eight daughters.^[3] His eldest son, also named Edward Corbett (1843–1917), in April 1881 unsuccessfully contested a by-election in Northampton as a Conservative after the Liberal MP Charles Bradlaugh was unseated when he voted in the Commons before taking the Oath of Allegiance^[9] (he insisted on the right to affirm instead).^[12] Bradlaugh was again expelled from the Commons the following year, and Corbett junior again stood in the resulting by-election.^[9][13] Addressing a public meeting from the balcony of the Angel Hotel in Northampton on 23 February, he told the crowd that this was not an ordinary electoral contest, but a battle of principles.^[14] He hoped that the result would be to spare the House of Commons from the "disgreceful scenes" which had taken place over Bradlaugh's refusal to take the oath.^[14] Bradlaugh was re-elected on 4 March 1882^[9] and Edward Corbett junior never again stood for parliament.