John Rooke Corbett

• Born      27 September 1876 at Handforth, Cheshire
• Died       13 August 1949 at Bristol

The son of Christopher Corbett and Sarah (Woodhead), John Rooke Corbett was born on 27 September 1876 at Handforth, Cheshire and later joined his father’s practice as surveyor and valuer at 9 Albert Square, Manchester. He continued the practice for a number of years after his father’s death, but by 1911 he was in salaried employment as a district valuer in the Inland Revenue Valuation Department at 73 King Street, Manchester, before moving to Bristol after the First World War again as a District Valuer.  He had been educated at both Hulme and Manchester Grammar Schools before attending St John's College, Cambridge (1895 to 1898). Somewhat unconventionally, he is reported as having walked from Manchester to Cambridge at the beginning of the term, and back again at the end, on at least one occasion. Described as "the greatest walker of his generation," he was one of the founder-members of The Rucksack Club in Manchester and for many years their Convener of Rambles. In 1923 he joined the Scottish Mountaineering Club and in 1930 became only the fourth person, and first Englishman, to complete the Munros (Scottish peaks over 3000 feet in height).

It was this passion for hill walking would provide his enduring legacy. To the hill walkers of Scotland “The Corbetts” are the 220 Scottish hills between 2,500 and 3,000 feet in height with a prominence of at least 500 feet. The list of such hills was compiled by Corbett in the 1920s but was not published until after his death in 1949, when his sister, Catherine Louisa, passed it to the Scottish Mountaineering Club.  Those who climb all 220 peaks are termed Corbetteers. By 2011, 440 people had climbed all the Corbetts and recorded their achievement with the Scottish Mountaineering Club.

Address

1900-1907: J Rooke Corbett Surveyor Scottish Provident Buildings 9 Albert Square

1911:  Inland Revenue Valuation Department  73 King Street, Manchester

1921:  Inland Revenue Valuation Department Bristol

Residence

Park Hall, Hayfield

1911       2 Spring Bank, Marple, Stockport

1919      Range Road, Whalley Range, Manchester

1932       5 West Park, Bristol

1946       Belvedere, 24 Woodland Grove, Westbury-on Trym, Bristol

1949       24 Woodland Grove, Westbury-on Trym, Bristol (London Gazette)

Obituary: The Journal of the Fell and Rock Climbing Club of the English Lake District 1950