William Colbeck | |
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 Captain William Colbeck, captain of the Morning, pictured in 1902 | |
| Born | William Colbeck 8 August 1871 |
| Died | 19 October 1930 (aged 59) London, UK |
| Resting place | Hither Green Cemetery |
| Occupation | Sea captain |
| Years active | 1900–1930 |
| Spouse | Edith Robinson |
| Children | 4 |
William Colbeck [1] was a British seaman who distinguished himself on two Antarctic expeditions.
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. [2] 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. [3] He earned his second mate's certificate in Calcutta in 1890, first mate's certificate in July 1892, master's in March 1894. [3] He joined the firm of Tomas Wilson, Sons and Co, Ltd., of Hull and served on RMS Montebello as the second mate under Captain Pepper. [3] He passed as extra master in November 1897. He was awarded a Royal Navy reserve commission in 1898.
In that year he studied at Kew Observatory making a special feature of magnetism and it was in the capacity of Magnetic Observer that he was invited by the Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink to join the Southern Cross Expedition to the Antarctic. [3] This would be the first expedition to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland; Colbeck took charge of the expedition's magnetic observation work. [4]
After returning to Britain in 1900, Colbeck was soon going southward again, this time in command of the relief ship Morning, sent to resupply Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery, then trapped in the ice at McMurdo Sound in the Antarctic. [5] 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. [6]
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. [2] In 1930 he was elected President of the Antarctic Club but died suddenly later that year of heart failure, after a bout of bronchitis. [1] He is buried in Hither Green Cemetery.
Colbeck married Edith Robinson and they had four sons. One of these, William Robinson Colbeck, joined the British Australia and New Zealand Antarctic expeditions of 1929–1931 as second officer and navigator in the old Discovery. He was responsible for much of the charting during the two voyages, and the Colbeck Archipelago—off the Mawson Coast—is named after him. [7]
His work in the Antarctic was commemorated by the naming of Colbeck Bay at 71°38′S170°5′E / 71.633°S 170.083°E and Cape Colbeck on the King Edward VII peninsula, at 77°07′S158°01′W / 77.117°S 158.017°W . A plaque was placed on the site of his residence at 51 Inchmery Road, London SE6 in September 2016. [9]
In the same year, a plaque was installed at Hull Paragon station, jointly commemorating Colbeck and Alfred Cheetham (1866–1918): 'Two of many Hull seafarers on the ship Morning who participated in the Antarctic expeditions to relieve Captain Scott 1902–1904 and were welcomed by thousands at this station on their return'.
William Colbeck's second sledge flag as commanding officer of relief ship Morning has been lent to the National Maritime Museum by his family. It is actually the burgee of the Pirate Yacht Club, Bridlington, made of machine‑sewn wool bunting, printed with a skull and cross bones. The Pirate Yacht Club is no longer in existence having gone out of business before the First World War.
Captain Robert Falcon Scott was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova expedition of 1910–13.
The history of Antarctica emerges from early Western theories of a vast continent, known as Terra Australis, believed to exist in the far south of the globe. The term Antarctic, referring to the opposite of the Arctic Circle, was coined by Marinus of Tyre in the 2nd century AD.
RRS Discovery is a barque-rigged auxiliary steamship built in Dundee, Scotland for Antarctic research. Launched in 1901, she was the last traditional wooden three-masted ship to be built in the United Kingdom. Her first mission was the British National Antarctic Expedition, carrying Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their first, and highly successful, journey to the Antarctic, known as the Discovery Expedition.
Sir Clements Robert Markham was an English geographer, explorer and writer. He was secretary of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) between 1863 and 1888, and later served as the Society's president for a further 12 years. In the latter capacity he was mainly responsible for organising the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901–1904, and for launching the polar career of Robert Falcon Scott.
Louis Charles Bernacchi was an Australian physicist and astronomer best known for his role in several Antarctic expeditions.
Carsten Egeberg Borchgrevink was a Norwegian polar explorer and a pioneer of Antarctic travel. He inspired Sir Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, and others associated with the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
SS Southern Cross was a steam-powered sealing vessel that operated primarily in Norway and Newfoundland.
Cape Colbeck is a prominent ice-covered cape which forms the northwestern extremity of the Edward VII Peninsula and Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica. It was discovered in January 1902 by the British National Antarctic Expedition and named for Captain William Colbeck, Royal Naval Reserve, who commanded Robert Scott's relief ship, the Morning.
The DiscoveryExpedition of 1901–1904, known officially as the British National Antarctic Expedition, was the first official British exploration of the Antarctic regions since the voyage of James Clark Ross sixty years earlier (1839–1843). Organized on a large scale under a joint committee of the Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), the new expedition carried out scientific research and geographical exploration in what was then largely an untouched continent. It launched the Antarctic careers of many who would become leading figures in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, including Robert Falcon Scott who led the expedition, Ernest Shackleton, Edward Wilson, Frank Wild, Tom Crean and William Lashly.
The Terra NovaExpedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objectives. Scott wished to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery Expedition from 1901 to 1904, and wanted to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole.
Hither Green Cemetery, opened as Lee Cemetery in 1873, is a large cemetery located on Verdant Lane, London, England. The cemetery is situated between Catford, Hither Green, Downham, Grove Park and Lee, located adjacent to a railway line, and close to Grove Park Sidings and Grove Park Nature Reserve. Next to Hither Green Cemetery is Lewisham Crematorium that was opened in 1956.
Alfred Cheetham was a member of several Antarctic expeditions. He served as third officer for both the Nimrod expedition and Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition.
The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration was an era in the exploration of the continent of Antarctica which began at the end of the 19th century, and ended after the First World War; the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition of 1921–1922 is often cited by historians as the dividing line between the "Heroic" and "Mechanical" ages.
Cape Adare is a prominent cape of black basalt forming the northern tip of the Adare Peninsula and the north-easternmost extremity of Victoria Land, East Antarctica.
SY Morning was a steam yacht, known for her role as a relief vessel to Scott's British National Antarctic Expedition (1901–1904). She made two voyages to the Antarctic to resupply the expedition.
Farthest South refers to the most southerly latitude reached by explorers before the first successful expedition to the South Pole in 1911.
The Adare Peninsula, is a high ice-covered peninsula, 40 nautical miles long, in the northeast part of Victoria Land, extending south from Cape Adare to Cape Roget. The peninsula was named by the New Zealand Antarctic Place-Names Committee (NZ-APC) for Cape Adare. The peninsula is considered the southernmost point of the Borchgrevink Coast, named for Carsten Borchgrevink (1864-1934).
The Southern CrossExpedition, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. The brainchild of the Anglo-Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink, it was the first expedition to over-winter on the Antarctic mainland, the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier—later known as the Ross Ice Shelf—since Sir James Clark Ross's groundbreaking expedition of 1839 to 1843, and the first to effect a landing on the Barrier's surface. It also pioneered the use of dogs and sledges in Antarctic travel.
Robertson Bay is a large, roughly triangular bay that indents the north coast of Victoria Land between Cape Barrow and Cape Adare. Discovered in 1841 by Captain James Clark Ross, Royal Navy, who named it for Dr. John Robertson, surgeon on HMS Terror.
Per John Savio was a Norwegian polar explorer and dog sled driver. As a member of the Southern Cross expedition 1898–1900, Savio together with Ole Must were the first to overnight on the Antarctic continent. He was also part of the sled team who were the first persons to travel on the Ross Ice Shelf and reaching a new Farthest South record.
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