The first son of
Archibald Corbett, the
Liberal politician and property developer, and Alice Mary, the daughter of John Polson, a corn merchant, Thomas Corbett was born in
Chelsea, London, on 19 December 1895 and was brought up in London and on the family's Scottish estates. Known as "Billy" to the family, he was educated at Gibbs School in Sloane Street, London, Wellington House Preparatory School in
Westgate-on-Sea and
Eton College. His mother died of sepsis, in 1902. His elder sister,
Elsie Cameron Corbett, became a volunteer ambulance driver in
Serbia during the
First World War and was awarded British and Serbian medals. His younger brother, Arthur Cameron Corbett, died in military service. Corbett married Gwyn Mervyn Grimond on 14 August 1918. She was the daughter of Joseph Bowman Grimond of
St Andrews,
Fife, and sister of
Jo Grimond, later Baron Grimond, leader of the
Liberal Party 1956–67. He had met her while on leave from war service; they had five sons and a daughter. On leaving the
British Army, he became a successful breeder of pedigree dairy cattle on the family estate in
Ayrshire and campaigned for the eradication of
bovine tuberculosis. He succeeded as The 2nd
Baron Rowallan on 19 March 1933. In 1961, Lord Rowallan was diagnosed as suffering from cancer of the palate, for which he took leave as
Governor of Tasmania and was treated in London. He retired in 1963 to his family estate in Scotland. He completed his autobiography,
"Rowallan", in his eightieth year. Lord Rowallan died at
Rowallan Castle, near
Kilmarnock, on 30 November 1977. He was survived by his daughter and four of his five sons; his other son, John, had been killed in action in 1944. ==Military career==