Edward Combes (6 September 1830 – 18 October 1895) was an engineer, pastoralist, politician and painter. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

, and later the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

. Combes entered the Government service of New South Wales in 1858. Four years later he was appointed Government Mining Engineer, and was returned to the Assembly as the member for Bathurst in 1872 and for

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

in 1875. Combes was Secretary for Public Works in the fourth Robertson ministry from August to December 1877, and in the following year was appointed Executive Commissioner for New South Wales at the

Paris International Exhibition Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, his seat in Parliament being declared vacant because that was held to be an office of profit under the Crown. He was re-elected to parliament as the member for East Macquarie in August 1879, holding the seat until 1885. In 1891 he was appointed to the Legislative Council, which he held until his death in 1895. He was made a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George I ...

(CMG) for his services at Paris, and an

officer of the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

. Combes, who married a daughter of the late William C. Hare, was a member of the Institution of French Civil Engineers, and an associate of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...

of London. He was also an artist of considerable merit, and had exhibited with success at some of the leading London galleries. Combes died in Bathurst on .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Combes, Edward 1830 births 1895 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 19th-century Australian politicians Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George