Family and Education

b. c.1596, 1st s. of Robert Corie of Bramerton by 1st w. educ. Pembroke, Camb. 1612; G. Inn 1613, called 1618, ancient 1638. m. (1) Bridget (d. 10 Mar. 1653), s.p.; (2) Anne, da. of Sir John Corbet, 1st Bt.^†, of Sprowston, Norf., 1s. 1da. suc. fa. 1629.1

Offices Held

J.p. Norf. by 1641-54, 1659-?d.; recorder, Norwich 1642-4, July 1660-77; commr. for assessment, Norf. Jan. 1660, Norf. and Norwich Aug. 1660-d., oyer and terminer, Norfolk circuit July 1660; dep. lt. Norf. Sept. 1660-d.; commr. for voluntary gift, Norwich 1662, corporations, Norf. 1662-3, recusants 1675.2

Biography

Corie’s ancestors had held property at Bramerton, five miles from Norwich, since 1403, and a cadet branch of the family was prominent on the corporation under the Stuarts. Corie himself, a practising lawyer, was clearly out of sympathy with the parliamentary cause in the Civil War, but he remained on the commission of the peace till 1654, and was reappointed by the Rump in 1659. After the Restoration he regained his post as recorder of Norwich, and was returned for the city after a contest at the general election of 1661. An inactive Member of the Cavalier Parliament, he was appointed to 45 committees, including that for preventing mischiefs from Quakers in the first session. He took the chair for the bill to regulate the manufacture of Norfolk stuffs, and on 4 Feb. 1662 he reported several amendments and a proviso, to all of which the House agreed without a division. In 1663 he was among those called on to recommend remedies for dissenters’ meetings, and he also helped to consider the staple bill, a bill for the repair of Wells quay, and a petition from the Suffolk spinning industry. He was confirmed as recorder in the new charter of the same year. In November 1669 he was detained on ‘mesne process’ in Norwich Castle, but the House of Commons ordered the sheriff to release him. Nothing further is known of the incident, which does not seem to have affected his standing either at Westminster or in his own county. On behalf of his constituency he acted as teller with the Hon. William Coventry on 4 Apr. 1670 for a Lords’ proviso to the Yarmouth pier bill, and helped to prepare reasons for a conference. In the following year he welcomed the King to Norwich during the royal tour of Norfolk. He was sent the government whip in 1675, but he was now in his eightieth year, and he did not attend the autumn session. Danby included him in his working-lists among those to be influenced by (Sir) Joseph Williamson, who corresponded with his cousin Thomas, and Sir Richard Wiseman listed him among the court supporters. On the other hand Shaftesbury marked him ‘thrice vile’, and the author of A Seasonable Argument thought him no better than his colleague, Christopher Jay, a pensioner. A new recorder was elected in 1677, and Corie died intestate and heavily in debt on 19 Feb. 1678, aged 82. He was buried at Bramerton, the only member of the family to sit in Parliament.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Paula Watson

Notes

• 1. Blomefield, Norf. v. 472-3
• 2. Q. Sess. Order Bk. (Norf. Rec. Soc. xxvi), 5, 63; Blomefield, iii. 384, 405; H. Le Strange, Norf. Official Lists, 127; PC2/55/20; Norwich Vol. Gift (Norf. Rec. Soc. i), 73.
• 3. Blomefield, iii. 384, 388; v. 473; CJ, viii. 357; ix. 112, 153; Corie Letters (Norf. Rec. Soc. xxvii), 13; PCC 32 Drax; CSP Dom. 1677-8, p. 660.