His Career At

Sea Dates Back

To The 1890'S

A Brett Milder Profile

Captain William Ed

WARD McCOLM is one of the best-known shipmasters around the coasts of Papua and New Guinea, but that is only a small part of his history.

HE was born in Scotland, in the county of Dumfries, in Feb ruary, 1881, and went to school there. When he was nearly 17 he went to sea in the full-rigged ship Indore, of Liverpool, on the Calcutta run.

Four years later he passed for second mate, and remained in the ship until he passed for first mate.

In 1904 he became chief officer of the famous training ship Mount Stewart, also a full-rigged ship, but privately owned, and running regul larly for the Orient Line from London to Australian ports.

Many of the cadets trained under him became well-known shipmasters, including Captain Vogelman, of Burns Philp, Captain Firth, manager of Howard Smith’s at Brisbane, Captain Winn, of British Petroleum, Captains Henderson and Chapman, Sydney pilots, and three of London’s pilots. Two cadets who had pre viously trained in the ship became Captain Mclntosh of the Nimrod, one of Scott’s Polar ships, and Vice-

Admiral Sir George Hyde, of the Royal Australian Navy.

Wife Sailed With Him In 1906, Captain McColm be came master of the Mount Stewart, and remained her master until she was sold for breaking up at Nantes, 20 years later. During this time he married Miss Adelaide Burgoyne, who sailed in the ship with him for 16 years. They had two sons, Don, born in Chile in 1911, who is now in charge of the Highland Cattle Station at Sogeri, Papua, and Malcolm, born in Cardiff in 1914, who was a squadron-leader in the RAF, and after the war became an MHR in Federal Parliament.

After the sale of the Mount Stewart, Captain McColm went to Australia and bought up 10,000 acres of freehold property on the Darling Downs, Queensland, in partnership with the Earl of Suffolk, who later won the George Medal for delousing German bombs in World War 11.

Property Cut Up

When the depression ended the partnership, this large property was cut up and sold as dairy farms, while the McColms retired to Brisbane.

In the Pacific War, Captain McColm went into the shipping branch of the Allied Works Council, and from there into the American Transportation Service as a pilot in New Guinea waters, based first at Milne Bay and finally at Manila in the Philippines. He had the rank of Colonel in that job.

Then he went master of a couple of American ships until he went to Shanghai for three years as Assistant Director of Shipping for

Unnra.

He then returned to New Guinea and served as master in the coastal ships of Burns Philp, the Bougainville Company and Steam ships for five or six years.

He has just returned from a trip overseas, and will live at Sogeri in comparative retirement, to enjoy his robust old age for many more

years.

Brett Milder.

Captain McColm.