COLNETT, JAMES, ship’s captain and maritime fur trader; he may
possibly have been the same person as the James Collnett
baptized 18 Oct. 1753 in Stoke Damerel (Plymouth), England, son
of James Collnett and Sarah – ; d. September 1806 in London,
England. James Colnett began his naval career as an able seaman
in the Hazard on 28 June 1770. On 4 September of the following
year he became a midshipman under James Cook* in the Scorpion,
and transferred to the Resolution when the great explorer was
readying for his second Pacific voyage. During the expedition,
Colnett sighted New Caledonia on 4 Sept. 1774, and Cook named
Cape Colnett on that island after him. Having demonstrated
skills in navigation, Colnett became master of the Adventure
during the American Revolutionary War; subsequently he rose to
first lieutenant of the Bienfaisant and then the Pegase before
being placed on half pay on 17 Aug. 1786. About a month later he
obtained Admiralty permission to command the expedition of the
Prince of Wales and the Prin