British politician
Harvey Christian Combe
(1752 ? 4 July 1818)
[1]
was an English
Whig
[2]
politician. He was the eldest surviving son of Harvey Combe, attorney, of
Andover, Hampshire
. He served as
Lord Mayor of London
1799/1800.
Life
[
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]
He was born in
Andover, Hampshire
the eldest son of Harvey Combe, a wealthy lawyer, and his wife Christiana Cornhill.
[3]
Inheriting a large sum he moved to
London
and worked as a corn merchant, before going to work for a brewery, Gyfford & Co. Marrying Alice Christian Tree, his cousin, he inherited a large sum on the death of her father Boyce Tree, and set up a brewery with his brother-in-law Joseph Dellafield named "
Combe Delafield and Co.
" on Castle Street in
Long Acre
, gaining a good reputation as a fine brewer.
[4]
He was elected an Alderman of London in 1790 and
Lord Mayor of London
in 1799. He was appointed
Sheriff of London
for 1791?92. At the
1796 general election
he was elected as a
Member of Parliament
for the
City of London
.
[2]
In his role as Lord Mayor one of his most memorable duties was a dinner in honour of
Horatio Nelson
at which Combe presented Nelson with an ornate sword.
[5]
Combe was present in the House of Commons when the then Prime Minister,
Spencer Perceval
, was
assassinated
in the lobby on 11 May 1812. He chaired a makeshift court convened the same day composed of MPs who were, like himself, also magistrates in order to begin committal proceedings against the murderer,
John Bellingham
, take witness statements and order messengers to search Bellingham's lodgings.
[6]
[7]
Bellingham was ultimately hanged.
He held the seat for 21 years,
[1]
until he
resigned from the House of Commons
in 1817 by taking the
Chiltern Hundreds
.
[8]
He fell ill in May 1817 and absented himself from parliament. He died at
Cobham Park
in Surrey on 4 July 1818, aged 66.
[1]
His son took over the brewery which later merged to become
Watney Combe & Reid
.
Family
[
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He had married his cousin Alice Christian Tree (d.1828), the daughter of Boyce Tree, corn factor, of London, with whom he had four sons and six daughters. By 1806 he was very rich, having made a fortune in the brewing industry. He was a partner in the
Combe Delafield and Co.
brewery. In 1806 he bought
Cobham Park
in Surrey where he lived until his death. He built Cobham Park into a substantial country house and estate which upon his death was left to his son Harvey Combe, junior. The estate still belongs to the Combe family.
Other positions of note
[
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]
- Lt Colonel of the West London Militia 1794?1796
- Captain of the Aldgate Volunteers 1798
- Master of the
Worshipful Company of Brewers
1804?1805
- Director of the Globe Insurance Co 1805?1817
- Governor of the Irish Society of London 1806?1817
- Director of the
West India Docks
1811?1817
- warden of the
Worshipful Company of Fishmongers
1812?1814
- President of the Society for the Prosecution of Felons 1817
References
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Notes
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External links
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