George Colby was a British privateer

Privateer

A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

 and profiteer of the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

 (1754–1763). He successfully managed to disrupt the French fur trade by causing the French ships to run aground by emulating light houses in areas foreign to their destination. Him and his crew would then pull up in small sized boats and capture the ships and their fur. Operating along the Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 frontier under commission by King George III as leader of the Colby Pirates

Colby Pirates

The Colby Pirates were a group of pirates that operated as privateers at the peak of the hostilities between Britain and France during the French and Indian war. They operated for the British King George III in the Great Lakes frontier of the British North American colonies...

. George Colby reached privateer status, however once the war was over, this was revoked by his commissioner, King George III and he became somewhat of an unknown after that.