Thomas Combe was an English printer, publisher and patron of the arts
Background
Combe was the son of Thomas Combe senior (died 1836?), a printer, stationer, bookseller and newspaper proprietor in Leicester. After working with his father and, between around 1824 and 1826 with Joseph Parker in Oxford, he was freed by the Stationers" Company and went into business in his own right.
Career
After his father"s death he moved to Oxford, and joined the University Press (or Clarendon Press) in 1837 at its then new (1830) building in Walton Street. By 1838, he was superintendent of the "learned side" of the press, and soon acquired shares in the business. By 1851, he was senior partner in the Press.
As a result, he amassed a considerable fortune.
In 1849, he met John Everett Millais in Oxford, who painted portraits of Combe"s family. They were also devotees of the Tractarian or Oxford Movement.
He died on 30 June 1872. Combe is buried in Street Sepulchre"s Cemetery, off Walton Street, near the University Press.
His widow retained and expanded his collection of Pre-Raphaelite art
On her death in 1893, the bulk of the collection was bequeathed to the University and is now in the Ashmolean Museum.