Thomas Comber (1575 – 28 February 1653) was an English linguist. He was the

Dean of Carlisle The Dean of Carlisle is based in Carlisle, UK and is the head of the Chapter of Carlisle Cathedral. There have been 39 previous incumbents and the post is currently vacant. List of deans Early modern *1542–1547 Lancelot Salkeld (last prior ...

and Master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He was born at

Shermanbury Shermanbury is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A281 road approximately north of Henfield. The present day village consists mainly of a ribbon development of bungalows on the east sid ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

about the end of the sixteenth century, the 12th child of Sir Richard Comber, the

Clarenceux King of Arms Clarenceux King of Arms, historically often spelled Clarencieux (both pronounced ), is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of Engla ...

at the Herald Court. He was educated at

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an expert linguist fluent in Greek and Latin, and familiar with several other languages. In 1623 on his return from travels on the continent, he was elected King's Chaplain and soon afterwards Dean of Carlisle. In 1631, he was elected Master of Trinity College and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. At the outbreak of the

English civil war The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

, he sided with the royalists and was hounded by the

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

, who imprisoned him in 1642 until his death on 28 February 1653.From History Of Sussex 2 by Horsefield 1835
/ref> Comber married Susan, a widow and daughter of Freston of Norwich. After Comber's death she married Thomas Sclater.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume 3''
/ref>

References

Deans of Carlisle 1575 births 1653 deaths Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Shermanbury Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Linguists from England Cavaliers 17th-century English Anglican priests Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge {{UK-reli-bio-stub