Robert Leask

Robert Leask, (Robbie o' Coldomo) father of William, farmed Coldomo in Stenness but in his younger days he had been a seaman. In fact, he had settled in Melbourne and, according to family history, was the harbour-master there when the first steam-ship arrived. He returned to Orkney to marry his girlfriend and, as she refused to go to Australia, he became an Orkney farmer.

He didn't give up sea-faring entirely; Coldomo was on the shore of the Bay of Ireland and he kept a boat. One evening in 1837, he heard cries for help in the bay. A naval ship had anchored there and three seamen had been sent to Stromness for the mail. The weather had worsened as they returned to the ship and their small boat had overturned. Robbie and his 14-year old son John, my great-grandfather, launched the boat into the darkness and managed to rescue the three men. However, despite being wrapped in John’s coat, one of the men died before they reached the shore. For this rescue Robbie was awarded an RNLI Silver Medal, one of the first in Scotland.