Colbeck History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Colbeck name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived near a cold stream. The surname Colbeck is derived from the Old English word ceald, which means cold, and the Old Norse word bekkr, which means stream.

Alternatively the name could have been derived from Caldbeck, a parish, in the union of Wigton, Allerdale ward below Derwent, in Cumberland. "The church bears date 1112, and was founded soon after the establishment of an hospital for travellers, by the prior of Carlisle, with the permission of Ranulph D'Engain, chief forester of Inglewood." 1

Another source claims the name to be Norman from Caudebec or Caldebec, Normandy. William de Caudebec occurs in the Duchy 1180-1195. 2

Early Origins of the Colbeck family

The surname Colbeck was first found in Cumberland, but early records of the family are very scarce. Alan de Caudebec held lands there in 1214. Thomas de Caldebek was recorded in Yorkshire in 1321 although this may have been confused with Cumberland. 3

Early History of the Colbeck family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Colbeck research. Another 50 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1664, 1680, 1683, 1696, 1716, 1728, 1729, 1748, 1787, 1790, 1798 and 1806 are included under the topic Early Colbeck History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Colbeck Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Colbeck has undergone many spelling variations, including Colbeck, Caldebeck, Coulbeck, Colebeck, Coldbeck, Caldbeck, Callbeck, Calbeck, Coleback, Coalbeck, Callback, Coallbeck, Colbatch, Collback and many more.

Early Notables of the Colbeck family

Distinguished members of the family include John Colbatch (1664-1748), an English divine, admitted to St. Peter's, Westminster, as a scholar in 1680, and proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1683. 4Sir John Colbatch (d. 1729), was English physician, a native...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Colbeck Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Colbeck migration to the United States +

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Colbeck were among those contributors:

Colbeck Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Joshua Colbeck, who landed in Virginia in 1664 5

Colbeck migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Colbeck Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

John Colbeck, a tailor, who arrived in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) sometime between 1825 and 1832

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)