COMBE, Richard

Little is known of Combe prior to his first election to Parliament, and it seems likely that this took place at an early point in his career, perhaps providing a springboard for his subsequent activities as a lawyer in Surrey. His origins are obscure: several families of this name were active in the early fifteenth century, including one which had acquired lands in Clapham and Croydon by 1406, of which our MP may have been an heir.1 Surr. Feet of Fines (Surr. Arch. Collns. extra vol. i), 166, 171-2. Although sometimes described as ‘of Guildford’, he probably usually resided two miles away at Merrow, for like Thomas Palshude* and Nicholas Fitzjohn* he was called ‘of Merrow’ in May 1434 when the three men were among those who were required to take the oath not to maintain law-breakers.2 CPR, 1429-36, p. 381. His proximity to the county town may well have been a factor in his attendance at no fewer than six of the shire elections held between 1423 and 1442,3 C219/13/2, 3, 4, 5, 14/2, 15/2. but it also seems likely that his legal practice was based there. For instance, in the mid 1420s he not only witnessed transactions concerning the lands of Geoffrey Mudge† (the mayor of 1426-7), but also made copies on his behalf.4 WARD2/54A/181/50.

During this period Combe, described as a gentleman, was often called upon to act as a witness to property transactions in Surrey, and by April 1432 he was sufficiently well respected to be appointed as an arbitrator in a dispute between men from Surrey and Hampshire.5 CCR, 1422-9, p. 150; 1429-35, p. 193; 1435-41, pp. 37, 167; 1441-7, pp. 48, 140. By July 1437 his abilities had come to the attention of the Crown which appointed him as a j.p. for Surrey: he went on to serve on seven commissions (six of them as a member of the quorum) up to and including that of May 1443. He was also appointed to two ad hoc commissions, one of which, in 1442, involved inquiring into the escape of a suspected felon from the custody of the abbot of Waverley’s bailiff. Combe’s growing administrative experience undoubtedly lay behind his nomination as a feoffee by John Feriby* (who had been controller of the royal Household when Combe’s two Parliaments met) and John, Lord Berners, the successive husbands of the heiress Margery Berners. Combe acted as a trustee in a series of transactions carried out between July 1441 and May 1442, during which period Feriby died and the lands were re-settled on Margery and her second husband. He was close enough to Feriby as to be a witness to his will.6 CCR, 1441-7, p. 31; CPR, 1441-6, p. 81; CP25(1)/293/70/264; VCH Berks. iii. 208; VCH Surr. iii. 354; Reg. Chichele, ii. 577-8.

Little is recorded about Combe after this date and it is likely that he died soon after his last appointment to a royal commission. At some point between May 1445 and the next April his widow Agnes married Walter Strickland I*. She long outlived them both.7 CPR, 1446-52, p. 263; Wilts. Feet of Fines (Wilts. Rec. Soc. xli), no. 689.