William Combe (died 1667)

For other MPs of this name, see William Combe (disambiguation).

William Combe (1586 – 30 January 1667) was an English landowner who briefly sat in the House of Commons for part of 1640.

Combe was the son of Thomas Combe of Warwickshire and his wife Maria Savage.[1] He was baptised at Stratford on 8 December 1586.[2] He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 8 July 1603 aged 15.[3] The Combe family had some connection with William Shakespeare. Combe's uncle another William Combe was High Sheriff and sold property to Shakespeare in 1602. Another uncle John Combe left Combe some land at Welcombe when he died in 1614.[4] Combe immediately caused a local dispute when he tried to enclose some land at Welcombe. The council took action against Combe's enclosure, but Shakespeare gave some support to Combe. Combe was probably that one of this name who was High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1616.[2]

In April 1640, Combe was elected member of parliament for Warwickshire in the Short Parliament.[5] He was elected again as a member for Warwickshire for the Long Parliament of November 1640, but his election was declared void in December 1640.[3]

Combe died at Stratford in January 1667 aged 80.[2]

Combe married Katharine Boughton, daughter of Edward Boughton.[1] She died in 1662. They had one son and nine daughters.[2]

  1. ^ a b Combs families – Visitation of Warwickshire 1619
  2. ^ a b c d Charlotte Carmichael Stopes Shakespeare's Warwickshire contemporaries
  3. ^ a b 'Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714: Colericke-Coverley', Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714: Abannan-Kyte (1891), pp. 304-337. Date accessed: 1 March 2011
  4. ^ The Combs Genealogy
  5. ^ Willis, Browne (1750). Notitia Parliamentaria, Part II: A Series or Lists of the Representatives in the several Parliaments held from the Reformation 1541, to the Restoration 1660 ... London. pp. 229–239.