He and his elder brother George Vernon went to Eton College.

[3] Colebrooke arrived in India in June 1832 and worked in Allahabad, leaving India on 9 October 1835 and arriving home in London in January 1836 to comfort his father following the unexpected death of his elder brother.

He stood unsuccessfully as a liberal Unionist of North East Lanarkshire in 1886.

[5] He was Dean of Faculties at the University of Glasgow from 1869 to 1872 and was awarded an honorary LLD in 1873.

[7] They had six children, of whom five survived into adulthood:[8] Sir Edward Colebroke died on 11 January 1890 at his London home, aged 76.