William Colston was most likely from Bristol in England. He may have been the son of the William Colston who served as the sheriff of Bristol from 1599 to 1600 and his wife Elizabeth (Gittens). Little is known of William's life in Bristol, but he may have been the same William Colston who joined the Bristol Spanish Company in 1605. If so, he was probably a merchant involved in the trade between England and Spain.

An Important Role

William made the long journey from England to Newfoundland to become one of the first settlers at Cupers Cove. John Guy described him as “a discreet young man” and must have thought highly of him because he made him one of his deputy governors. This means that in the event that John or his brother Philip Guy could not govern the colony, then William would have been in charge. William and Philip were left in charge of the colony when John returned to England in the fall of 1611. William was also given the job of keeping the colony's official journal over the winter of 1611-1612. In it, he recorded the weather and wrote about what the settlers were doing. Unfortunately, this journal has not survived.

Returns to England

John Guy returned to Newfoundland in the spring of 1612, and in June, William went back to England. When he arrived he seems to have given a very positive report on Newfoundland to John Slany. We do not know if William ever returned to Newfoundland.