The son of Earl Malcolm and his wife, one of the daughters of Llywelyn the Great (probably Susanna fl.
1228),[2] he succeeded his father while still a teenager on Malcolm's death in 1266.
His wife's name was Anna, and she was likely one of the three daughters and coheiresses of Sir Alan Durward and wife Marjory, illegitimate daughter of Alexander II of Scotland.
Colban and Anna had a son, Duncan, who succeeded as Earl of Fife at the age of eight, and a daughter, Marjory, who married Alan, Earl of Menteith.
His date of death is disputed, and depends on what evidence one interprets.