Ephraim Henry Coombe (1858 - 1917)

Born 26 Aug 1858 in Gawler, South Australia, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Susannah Fraser Heywood — married 1 Mar 1880 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 5 Apr 1917 at age 58 in Semaphore, South Australia, Australia

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Biography

Ephraim Coombe is Notable.

Politician and journalist,
Born 26 August 1858,
Died 5 April 1917.

Ephraim Henry Coombe was born at Gawler South⁠^[1] on 26 August 1858.⁠^[2]⁠^[3] He died at Semaphore⁠^[4] on 5 April 1917,⁠^[5] and was buried in the Willaston Cemetery⁠^[6] on 7 April 1917.⁠^[7]

From Wikipedia:⁠^[8]

Ephraim Henry Coombe (26 August 1858 – 5 April 1917) was a South Australian newspaper editor and politician. He was editor of the Bunyip  at Gawler from 1890 to 1914. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1901 to 1912 and 1915 to 1917, representing the electorate of Barossa. A long-time liberal in the House, he refused to join the united conservative Liberal Union in 1910, and was defeated in 1912 recontesting as an independent. Following his defeat, he edited the Daily Herald from 1914 to 1916. He was re-elected to the House for Barossa in 1915, having joined the Labor Party, but died in office in 1917.

From the Australian Dictionary of Biography :⁠^[9]

Coombe was local literary correspondent and Hansard reporter for the South Australian Register in 1888. Two years later he became editor of the lively Gawler Bunyip  and in 1897 was one of the few country journalists selected to be an official Hansard reporter for the Adelaide Federal Convention. Coombe was always active in temperance, the arts and education: in Gawler he belonged to many cultural, sporting and benevolent societies and was a keen Freemason. He represented South Australia in both cricket and chess. He was a governor of the Adelaide Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery in 1901-06, vice-president of the Institutes' Association and editor of its journal in 1904-08. In his patriotic History of Gawler  (1908) he voiced satisfaction that his 'lot was cast in a community whose institutions and citizenship are so favourable to the development of a robust and intelligent manhood and womanhood'.

From his obituary in The Bunyip :⁠^[3]

It is no easy task to compress within the limits of a newspaper article the biographical sketch of a life so full of events and achievements worth recording as that of the late Mr. Ephraim Henry Coombe, M.P. Our late esteemed townsman would, we are sure, if he could, make his wishes known, prefer that statement of the chief features of his life should be brief and unvarnished, for he shrank from embellishment that savoured in the slightest degree of extravagance or excessiveness—he was a natural, practical, warm-hearted, and kindly dispositioned man. By his death the town and the State have suffered an irreparable loss.

The first world war generated widespread anti-German prejudices in Australia, causing significant distress to Australians of German ethnicity. By speaking out against measures such as the closure of German schools,⁠^[9] Ephraim Henry Coombe earned great respect in ethnic German communities in South Australia, such as those in the Barossa Valley.⁠^[10]

There is a marble monument in his honour⁠^[11]⁠^[12] in the Barossa Valley town of Tanunda.⁠^[13]

Family

Ephraim Henry Coombe was the son of Ephraim Coombe and Mary Lock, who were married at Gawler on 27 October 1857.⁠^[14]⁠^[15] He had a younger brother, Thomas Coombe, who was born on 21 June 1861 and died on 21 March 1935.⁠^[16]

He married Sarah Susannah Fraser Heywood in Adelaide on 1 March 1880.⁠^[14]⁠^[17] She died at Renmark⁠^[18] on 25 November 1923, aged 63,⁠^[19] and was buried in the Willaston Cemetery on 26 November.⁠^[20]

Headstone photos from Willaston Cemetery are available online, courtesy of "Australian Cemetries";⁠^[21] in particular there is a photo of the stone commemorating E. H. Coombe, Sarah F. Coombe and their son Lieutenant H. H. Coombe.⁠^[22]

Ephraim Henry and Sarah Fraser Coombe had six children:

• Harry Heywood Coombe,
• James Bright Coombe,
• Samuel Walter Coombe,
• Daisy Neville Coombe,
• Ernest John Hiscock Coombe,
• Catherine Helen Spencer Coombe.

Sources

1. ↑ Gawler South: Wikipedia article.
2. ↑ South Australian births, index of registrations 1842 to 1906, edited by Jan Thomas, South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society (Adelaide SA), 1997. (Data also available from Ancestry and FindMyPast.)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Late Mr E. H. Coombe, M.P.: The Bunyip  (Gawler SA 1863–1954), 13 April 1917, supplement. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
4. ↑ Semaphore, South Australia: Wikipedia article.
5. ↑ Death of Mr E. H. Coombe: The Register  (Adelaide SA 1901–1929), 6 April 1917, pag 6. Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
6. ↑ Willaston General Cemetery: Wikipedia article.
7. ↑ Late Mr. E. H. Coombe — funeral arrangements: The Daily Herald  (Adelaide SA 1910–1924), 7 April 1917, page 4. Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 30 June 2022.)
8. ↑ E. H. Coombe: Wikipedia article.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Ephraim Henry Coombe: article in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.
10. ↑ Barossa Valley: Wikipedia article.
11. ↑ Coombe Monument, Tanunda: information from Monument Australia.
12. ↑ Coombe Monument, Tanunda: Google Street view.
13. ↑ Tanunda, South Australia: Wikipedia article.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} South Australian marriages, index of registrations 1842-1916: A. L. Cobiac (editor and project co-ordinator), South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society (Adelaide SA), 2001. (Data also available from Ancestry and FindMyPast.)
15. ↑ Married: The South Australian Register  (Adelaide SA 1839–1900), 30 October 1857, page 3, Family Notices. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
16. ↑ Obituary: The Bunyip  (Gawler SA 1863–1954), 29 March 1935, page 10. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
17. ↑ Coombe—Heywood: The Express and Telegraph  (Adelaide SA 1867–1922), 9 March 1880 (2nd ed.), page 2, Family Notices. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
18. ↑ Renmark, South Australia: Wikipedia article.
19. ↑ Social and Personal: The Bunyip  (Gawler SA 1863–1954), 30 November 1923, page 2. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 29 June 2022.)
20. ↑ Funeral notice — Mrs Sarah Fraser Coombe: The Advertiser  (Adelaide SA 1889–1931), 26 November 1923, page 3, column 4. (National Library of Australia, Digitised Australian Newspapers, retrieved 30 June 2022.)
21. ↑ Willaston Cemetery, information provided by "Australian Cemeteries".
22. ↑ Coombe headstone: photo by Beth Page.

See also:

Ephraim Henry Coombe (1858–1917): Find a Grave, database and images, memorial page for Ephraim Henry Coombe, Find a Grave Memorial ID 162096668; Willaston Cemetery, Gawler, South Australia (accessed 30 June 2022). Memorial maintained by nettlyne (Find a Grave contributor 47486944).