BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 291
No. CCLXVIII.
HARVEY CHRISTIAN COMBE, ESQ.,
LORD MAYOR OB LONDON.
THIS is another of the few portraits sketched by gay while he sojourned for
a short time in the great metropolis. ALDERMACNO MBEa,s he was usually
denominated, was well known in London, both politically and as a brewer in
very extensive business. He was born at Andover, in Hampshire, where his
father, an attorney, was the owner of considerable landed property. The eldest
son, and succeeding at an early age to the patrimonial inheritance, he might
have lived in independence, far from the bustling scenes of commercial activity ;
but his spirit of enterprise dictated a different course. Under the patronage of
a relative, he began his career in London as a corn factor-was successful-and,
by a matrimonial alliance with a cousin, he soon afterwards, on the death of his
father-in-law, came into possession of property to some extent. He subsequently
engaged in the brewing establishment so long and so successfully carried
on, first under the firm of Gyfford and Co., and latterly of Combe, Delafield,
and Co., in Castle Street, Long Acre.
The active mind and business habits of Mr. Combe were such a8 to call him
prominently forward, while his pleasing manners and liberality of disposition
tended greatly to his popularity. He waB elected Alderman of Aldgate Ward
in 1790-served as Sheriff in 1791-was appointed Governor of the Irish
Society in 1793-and arrived at the highest dignity of the Corporation, by
being elected Lord Mayor in 1799.
Though he so far concurred in the defensive measures recommended by
Government, as to hold the command of the loth Regiment of London Volunteers
for some time, the politics of Alderman Combe were decidedly opposed
to the Pitt administration. He was a member of the Whig Club; and first
stood candidate for the city in opposition to Mr. Lushington. He failed on this
occasion, but was returned at the general election in 1796 ; and, in 1802, his
popularity had so greatly increased that he stood at the head of the poll, having
3377 votes. His conduct in Parliament, throughout a period of more than
twenty years, was marked by a constant adherence to principle, and-to the
party with which he had been early associated.
In a work entitled “The Whig Club, or a Sketch of Modern Patriotism,”
Mr. Combe is favoured with a few passing touches of the sketcher’s pencil ; and,
in common with the other members, he is described as a frequenter of the
gaming table, and a bon vivant of unconquerable stamina. indeed:’