View source for Arthur Corbett, 3rd Baron Rowallan

{{Short description|British Baron (1919–1993)}}
{{redirect|Arthur Corbett|the public servant|Arthur Corbett (public servant)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image               = 
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Lord Rowallan
| honorific-suffix    = 
| birth_date          = 17 December 1919
| birth_place         = 
| death_date          = 24 June 1993
| death_place         = [[Marbella]], Spain
| resting_place       =
| alma_mater          = [[Eton College]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Eleanor Mary Boyle|1945|1961|end=divorced}}<br>{{marriage|[[April Ashley]]|1963|1970|end=annulled}}
| children            = 4 (including [[John Corbett, 4th Baron Rowallan|4th Lord Rowallan]])
| parents             = [[Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan]]<br>Gwyn Mervyn Grimond
| awards              = 
<!-- Military service -->| allegiance          = United Kingdom
| branch              = [[British Army]]
| serviceyears        = 
| rank                = [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]]
| unit                = 
| commands            = 
| battles             = 
| mawards             = 
| relations           = 
}}
[[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|Captain]] '''Arthur Cameron Corbett, 3rd Baron Rowallan''' (17 December 1919 – 24 June 1993), was a [[British nobility|British aristocrat]] most notable for successfully having his second marriage [[annulment|annulled]] in 1970 on the grounds that his wife [[April Ashley]], a [[transgender woman]], was legally male.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305154457/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-identity-idUKTRE5AO2Y820091125 New show on identity asks why we are as we are | Reuters<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/british-transsexuals-get-wedding-rights-back-98784|title=British transsexuals get wedding rights back|website=www.iol.co.za|accessdate=9 January 2023}}</ref> This case is known as ''[[Corbett v Corbett]]''.

==Early life==
Arthur Cameron Corbett was born on 17 December 1919 to [[Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan|Thomas Godfrey Polson Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan]] (1895–1977), who was [[Chief Scout (The Scout Association)|Chief Scout]] of the [[British Empire|British Commonwealth and Empire]] and served as [[Governor of Tasmania]] from 1959 to 1963,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs295307.pdf |title=Meet the Chiefs |accessdate=2007-12-08 |date=October 2004 |publisher=The Scout Information Centre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031114258/http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs295307.pdf |archive-date=31 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Gwyn Melvyn Grimond, daughter of Joseph Bowman Grimond of [[St Andrews]], [[Fife]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rowallan K.T. |first1=Lord |title=Rowallan: The Autobiography of Lord Rowallan K.T.|date=1976|publisher=Paul Harris Publishing|location=Edinburgh |isbn=9781554882823 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gRdnzyeVYKoC&pg=PA33|accessdate=28 November 2016}}</ref>  His maternal uncle was [[Jo Grimond| Jo Grimond, Baron Grimond]], the leader of the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] 1956–67.

He was one of six children born to his parents. One of his four brothers was killed in action in 1944. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]].

===Peerage===
He succeeded his father, [[Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan|Thomas Corbett]], as the 3rd Baron Rowallan on 30 November 1977. Upon his death in 1993, his eldest son, [[John Corbett, 4th Baron Rowallan]], succeeded to his title, [[Baron Rowallan]].

==Personal life==
===First marriage and children===
In 1945, he married Eleanor Mary Boyle. They had four children:

* [[John Corbett, 4th Baron Rowallan|John Polson Cameron Corbett, 4th Baron Rowallan]] (born 8 March 1947)
* [[The Honourable|Hon]] Sarah Elizabeth Cameron Corbett (born 5 April 1949)
* Hon Anne Mary Cameron Corbett (born 3 September 1953)
* Hon Rosalind Eleanor Cameron Corbett (born 2 January 1958)

The couple divorced in 1961.

===Second marriage===
{{Main|Corbett v Corbett}}
In November 1960, Corbett met [[April Ashley]], a successful fashion model, who appeared in ''[[Vogue (magazine)|Vogue]]'' (photographed by [[David Bailey (photographer)|David Bailey]]<ref name="SMH">{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/People/Sex-and-the-single-grande-dame/2005/06/03/1117568360972.html|title=Sex and the single grande dame|date=4 June 2005|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|accessdate=28 March 2015}}</ref>) and in the film ''[[The Road to Hong Kong]]'', which starred [[Bing Crosby]] and [[Bob Hope]].<ref name="Landmark"/><ref name="IMDB">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0039018|title=April Ashley|publisher=[[Internet Movie Database|IMDB]]}}</ref> They married in 1963, but the marriage quickly broke down.

Ashley's lawyers wrote to Corbett in 1966 demanding maintenance payments and in 1967 Corbett responded by filing suit to have the marriage annulled. The annulment was granted in 1970 on the grounds that Ashley was male, even though Corbett knew about her history when they married.<ref name="Corbett">{{cite court|url=http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj/courses/LA306_Family_Law/Cases/Corbett_v_Corbett.html|litigants=Corbett v Corbett|court=[[High Court of Justice|EWHC]]|date=1970}}</ref><ref name="Landmark">{{cite book|title=Landmark Cases in Family Law|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|year=2011|first1=Stephen|last1=Gilmore|first2=Jonathan|last2=Herring|first3=Rebecca|last3=Probert|isbn=978-1849461016}}</ref> The argument was accepted, and the case served as a precedent until the [[Gender Recognition Act 2004]].<ref name="SMH" />

==Later life and death==
Corbett later moved to [[Marbella]], Spain, where he died after undergoing surgery on his leg for [[gangrene]] on 24 June 1993, at the age of 73.<ref>{{cite news |title=Death notice |url=https://postimg.cc/KKJwXM67 |access-date=28 December 2021 |publisher=Aberdeen Press and Journal |date=3 July 1993}}</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|centre|150px]] [[File:Rowallan Escutcheon.png|centre|200px]]
|escutcheon = Quarterly 1st & 4th Argent a key fesseways wards downwards between two ravens Sable (Corbett) 2nd & 3rd Azure a chevron Or between two bears' heads couped Argent muzzled Gules in chief and in base a cross moline of the third (Polson).
|crest = A branch of oak thereon a raven Sable.
|supporters = Dexter a salmon Proper holding in its mouth a jewelled ring Or sinister a seal Proper.
|motto = ''Deus Pascit Corvos''<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1959}}</ref>}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

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{{Succession box|title=[[Baron Rowallan]]|before=[[Thomas Corbett, 2nd Baron Rowallan|Thomas Godfrey Polson Corbett]]|after=[[John Corbett, 4th Baron Rowallan|John Polson Cameron Corbett]]|years=1977&ndash;1993}}
{{S-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowallan, Arthur Cameron Corbett, 3rd Baron}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Nobility from East Ayrshire]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Barons Rowallan]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Corbett family (United Kingdom)|Arthur]]


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