William Lucombe

Who is William Lucombe?

William Lucombe was a nurseryman, who gave his name to the Lucombe Oak. He bred it at his nursery in St Thomas, Exeter which he founded in 1720. The Lucombe Oak was first spotted in 1762 when Lucombe noticed that one of the saplings produced from a Turkey Oak acorn he had planted kept its leaves in winter. He later observed that these features occurred where both parents grew. True Lucombe Oaks are clones of the original tree, but Lucombe Oak is also often used to refer to any hybrid between Turkey Oaks and Cork Oaks.

One of the early Lucombe Oaks went to Kew, and Lucombe Oaks along with their descendents, which include back crosses with the naturalised Turkey Oak, are common in the landscape of East Devon, as well as parks and gardens.

Lucombe felled the original hybrid in 1785, keeping timber from it from which his coffin was to be made when he died. He stored the boards under his bed; however, he lived, for the age, an exceptionally long life, dying at the age of 102 years, by which time the planks had decayed in the Devon damp. On his death timber from one of his early graft propagations was used to make his coffin.