Born in 1855, the son of John Coombe, a member of the London Corn Exchange, who was then living at Waterford, Ireland. He was educated privately, and later at Brighton. He then began business life in the City but finding the occupation uncongenial entered Caius College, Cambridge on 1 October 1879, graduating BA in 1883 after obtaining a third class in part I of the natural sciences tripos in 1882. He received his medical education at St George's Hospital where, amongst other distinctions, he won the Brodie prize for clinical surgery, and held the posts of house surgeon and assistant surgical registrar. He left London in 1888 to become house surgeon at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. Two years later he settled in practice in Exeter and quickly obtained a good surgical practice, although he never held any position on the staff of the hospital. He was pricked for Sheriff of Exeter in 1914, but was unable to serve the office as he had accepted a commission as major in the territorial medical service in 1908 and on the outbreak of war was ordered to Netley as one of the operating surgeons. He did not return to practice at the end of the war, but spent his time in medical politics and in the cultivation of his hobbies: architecture, classical music, art, history, and gardening. He married in 1901 Eva Johnstone of Hardwick Hall, Co. Durham, who died before him without children. He died after an attack of cerebral haemorrhage on 15 February 1933. Coombe is to be remembered as a surgeon because he recommended the operation for cure of congenital stenosis of the pylorus a year before the appearance of Rammstedt's paper on the subject. The greater part of his life was spent in the service of the British Medical Association, from 1906 locally and from 1910 centrally. He was strongly in favour of the National Health Insurance Act (1911), was chairman of the Devon panel committee 1914-30 and was a member of the council of the Association 1915-22. As a member of the organization committee he took a leading part in the revision of the constitution of the Association between 1919 and 1922, the incorporation of the Australian branches 1920-21, the organization of the medical profession in South Africa, and the propaganda work of the Association among medical students. For this work he was elected a vice-president. Publications:- *A pocket epitome of the British Pharmacopoeia*. London, 1891. Ruptured pyo-salpinx complicated by a large ovarian cyst; operation; recovery. *Lancet*, 1906, 2, 654. Congenital hypertrophic stenosis of the pylorus. *Ann Surg* 1911, 54, 167. A short history of the British Medical Association, mainly medico-political. BMA. *Handbook* for 1921-22. *A brief history of the south-western branch of the British Medical Association* 1840-1932. Exeter, 1932.