Combe was the son of Thomas Combe senior (died 1836?), a printer, stationer, bookseller and newspaper proprietor in
Leicester. As a result, he amassed a considerable fortune. He and his wife
Martha (1806–1893) were keen patrons of the arts and particularly of the
Pre-Raphaelites. 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
St 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. , 1863, on display at the
Ashmolean Museum in
Oxford. A
blue plaque on the outside wall of St Barnabas Church installed by the
Oxfordshire Blue Plaques Board now commemorates Thomas Combe and his wife Martha as founders of the church. ==References==