• Name: Combe, William (Combes)
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date: 25  March  1742
• Death Date: 22  June  1823
• Occupation: writer
• Occupation: literary imitator

These entries seems likely to have been to the writer and literary imitator William Combe (1742-1823). He is mentioned several times in John Taylor'sRecords of my Life - eg. Taylor invited him to dinner alongside John Horne Tooke - and Henry Crabb Robinson's Diary prove some degree of overlap with Godwin's circle and, although it is not entirely certain, give grounds for identifying William Combe as the principle Combe in the diary.

There are seventy-four appearances of Combe in total from 1793-1809, plus one B Combe in 1825. He appears in conjunction with Northcote, Carlisle and Nicholson (especially Nicholson, and at least one exhibition. He also goes with Godwin to the antiquity society (10.11.1802). Godwin often goes to Nicholson's and bumps into Combe as an adv.

Charles Combe (1743-1817), physician and numismatist, speciality obstetrics, seems a likely candidate for the two references to Dr Combe in December 1797 and May 1798 (perhaps Godwin is seeking medical advice soon after Mary's birth).

'Ald. Combe' (3.3.1803) appears to be the single appearance of Harvey Christian Combe (1752-1818, brewer), who was first elected alderman of the city in 1790 (DNB). This has been coded separately to avoid confusion.

• DNB
• The Diary of Henry Crabb Robinson, ed. by Edith J. Morley, 3 vols (London: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1938). vol. 1, pp. 11-13.
• John Taylor, Records of my Life, 2 vols (London, 1832)

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.