William Colbeck was born on 8 August 1871, at Myton Place,
Kingston-upon-Hull, Yorkshire. He was the fifth child in a family of ten born to Christopher Colbeck, a baker, and his wife Martha. Educated at
Hull Grammar School, Colbeck served a merchant navy apprenticeship on the Loch Torridon between 1886 and 1890 and completed a six-month course in navigation before going to sea. He earned his second mate's certificate in Calcutta in 1890, first mate's certificate in July 1892, master's in March 1894. After returning to Britain in 1900, Colbeck was soon going southward again, this time in command of the relief ship , sent to resupply
Robert Falcon Scott's , then trapped in the ice at
McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic. He was awarded the
Royal Geographical Society's
Back Award in 1901. On their way south the
Morning celebrated Christmas Day 1902 by crossing the
Antarctic Circle and discovering a previously uncharted island which they named
Scott Island. Colbeck and three officers landed on the island where they collected rock samples and had a drink. The adjacent cone-shaped islet Colbeck named Haggitt's Pillar, after his mother's maiden name. In January 1904, Colbeck returned with
Morning, this time with firm instructions that unless
Discovery could be speedily released from the ice, she was to be abandoned; Colbeck was to bring Scott and the expedition home. In a race against time, and with a fortunate shift in ice conditions,
Discovery was freed and sailed safely home. Thereafter Colbeck made no further Antarctic ventures but resumed his job with the Wilson line in Hull. In 1914 he went to work for the United Shipping Company of London, ultimately becoming their Marine Superintendent. The family moved to south London, living at 51 Inchmery Road, Catford. Captain Colbeck became a founder member of the
Honourable Company of Master Mariners. ==Legacy==