William Henry Colbeck (1823 – 25 June 1901) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament in the Auckland Region of New Zealand.
Life in England
Colbeck was born in Batley, Yorkshire in 1823 and was baptised on 20 February.[1] His parents were William Colbeck (1783–1849) and Elizabeth Richardson (c. 1785 – 1856).[2] He was involved in the woollen manufacture with his brothers Isaac and Simeon, trading as Cheapside Mill in Batley, and after selling that factory, trading as Colbeck Bros. in Alverthorpe.[2][3]
Colbeck emigrated to New Zealand in 1877[1] to join two of his sons in the Kaipara District.[3] He enlarged the land holding and built a residence. Colbeck was a strong supporter of the construction of the North Auckland Line that would service the Northland Region.[3] He laid out the township of Batley on the Kaipara Harbour as a settlement project, but nothing came of it.[4]
He represented the Marsden electorate from 1879 to 1881, when he retired.[5] In 1879 there were doubts about his election, and the Elections Validation Act, 1879[6] validated the election of Cobeck and two other MHRs, Honi Mohi Tawhai and Wiremu te Wheoro.
On 9 August 1849, Colbeck married Martha Cordingley, the daughter of John Cordingley, at Halifax.[7] He is listed as a manufacturer at Batley in the marriage advertisement, and his wife as being from nearby Boothtown.[8] His wife died on 4 June 1897 and was buried at St. Mark's Cemetery in Remuera.[9] Captain Colbeck died at his home in Gladstone Road, Parnell, on 25 June 1901.[10] He was survived by six sons and two daughters.[1]
His son Frank Colbeck (1861–1941) was a life member of the Farmers' Union, and stood for the Country Party in three general elections.[11] In 1925, he came a distant fourth in the Rotorua electorate.[12] In the 1928 election, he came third in the Tauranga electorate.[13] In 1931, he again contested the Tauranga electorate and was third (and last) again.[14]
