3a
Title: Baptism Record of James Cook
Description:
Date: 3rd November 1728
Author:
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no: 1967.160
Record no.:160a1967.jpg /
Baptism Record of James Cook
James Cook was born on 27th October 1728 in Marton, now part of Middlesbrough. His father, James, was originally from Scotland, and had married Grace Pace from Thornaby. He was an agricultural labourer and moved about the area to find work on local estate farms.
Within a week of his birth James was baptised in the parish church of St. Cuthbert, Marton, on 3rd November 1728.
3
Title: Baptism Record of James Cook (detail)
Description:
Date:
Author:
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no: 1967.160
Record no.:160b1967.jpg
OMITTED – DETAIL OF ABOVE /
Baptism Record of James Cook
James Cook was born on 27th October 1728 in Marton, now part of Middlesbrough. His father, James, was originally from Scotland, and had married Grace Pace from Thornaby. He was an agricultural labourer and moved about the area to find work on local estate farms.
Within a week of his birth James was baptised in the parish church of St. Cuthbert, Marton, on 3rd November 1728.
3a
Title: Captain Cook’s Birthplace Cottage
Description: Artist’s reconstruction of Captain Cook’s Birthplace Cottage
Date: early 19th century
Author: unknown
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:
Record no.: Cooks Cottage/ Cook birthplace cottage/cookscottage /
Captain Cook’s Birthplace Cottage
Early 19th century artists’ reconstructions of the birthplace cottage show it as a stone-built single-storey thatched building, typical of the small labourers’ cottages of the 18th century.
According to his early biographers James Cook was born in a mud house. It has been described as:
“…a low cottage, of two rooms, one within the other the walls of mud and covered with thatch.”
(Hutton, W. 1810. A Trip to Coatham in Yorkshire)
The cottage stood in East Marton, close to the site of the later Marton Lodge and Hall. By the second half of the 1780s it had fallen into disrepair and was dismantled.
3a
Title:A Plan of Marton Estate
Description: A Plan of Marton Estate in Cleveland belonging to Sir John Ramsden Bart, by Thos. Forster 1764. Oriented north to the left.
Date: 1764
Author: Thomas Forster
Dimensions:
Collection: Teesside Archives
Reference no: U/S/90
Record no.:MARTON MAP 1764 /
A Plan of Marton Estate
The birthplace cottage was probably too temporary and insignificant a building to have been marked on any maps of the area. James Cook senior worked for a farmer Mr. George Mewburn who owned the land and properties marked G on the 1764 Marton Estate Map.
This map does not show the cottage as it was probably located outside the main area of survey on land belonging to a Mr. Munday. This was on the other side of Marton Back Lane, the main route through the village, opposite Mr. Mewburn’s garth and orchard, and to the south of the later Marton Lodge (1786).
The Cook family moved between Marton and neighbouring Ormesby more than once, no doubt in attempts to find better work and housing. During this time the young Cook would have helped with the work and even received some basic schooling.
3a
Title: View of Teesmouth from Marton
Description: Detail from engraving showing aerial view of “Acklam in Cleveland in the County of Yorke the Seat of the Honble. Sr. Wm. Hustler Kt.”
Date: about 1700
Author: L.Knyff Del., I.Kip Sculp
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum
Reference no:MIDDM.1985.724
Record no.:724d1985, /

View of Teesmouth from Marton

This detail from an engraving of about 1700 showing an aerial view of Acklam in Cleveland, the neighbouring settlement to Marton, gives a glimpse eastwards down the River Tees valley towards the mouth of the River between Hartlepool and Coatham/Redcar and out into the North Sea. This view, just yards away from his birthplace, would have been familiar to Cook and was described as:
“…an open situation, on the summit of a gentle slope; from whence the sea, generally crowded with ships employed in the coal-trade, presents an interesting object to the east...”
(Graves, Rev. J. 1808 The History of Cleveland)
3a
Title:Airyholme Farm, Great Ayton
Description: Airyholme Farm, Great Ayton.
Photograph
Date: about 1970
Author:
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:
Record no.: Airyholme 2.jpg / Airyholme Farm, Great Ayton
By 1836, when James was eight years old, his father had got the job of hind or foreman at Airyholme Farm near Great Ayton, about six miles away. The farm stood on the lower slopes of Roseberry Topping and was owned by Mr. Thomas Scottowe, Lord of the Manor of Great Ayton.
The family left Marton and probably moved into an estate cottage attached to the farm. During the next eight years James attended the local school and when he left went to work on the farm at Great Ayton.
3a
Title: Postgate School, Great Ayton
Description: Postgate School at Great Ayton.
Photograph
Date: about 1900
Author:
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:
Record no.: Schoolroom Ayton 2.jpg /
Postgate School, Great Ayton
The school that James attended had been set up by a local yeoman, Michael Postgate, in 1704. It is possible that Thomas Scottowe, James’s father’s employer, financially supported James’s schooling there. James, along with the other twenty to thirty other children, would have been taught writing and arithmetic and received religious instruction, probably until the age of twelve.
In 1785 the original school building was rebuilt. It now houses the Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum.
3a
Title: Captain Cook’s Cottage, Great Ayton
Description: “Captain Cook’s Cottage, Great Ayton”, built by Cook’s father, James, in 1755. The single storey extension to the right of the main two-storey house was demolished before the sale in 1933. The cottage was presented to the Victoria State Government in 1934 and now stands in Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne.
Photograph
Date: about 1920
Author: Harold Hood F.R.P.S
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:
Record no.: Cook’s Cottage Ayton /

Captain Cook’s Cottage, Great Ayton

James Cook left Great Ayton for Staithes in early 1745 and in 1755 his father retired from the farm and moved with his family into a house which he had built in the village of Great Ayton. Captain Cook never lived in this cottage but would have stayed here when visiting his parents.
Ralph Ward Jackson recorded in his diary Cook’s last visit to Great Ayton:
“26th December 1771. Spent all day in Ayton; this afternoon came Capt. Jas. Cook (and his wife) whose father lives in that town, this gentleman lately commanded the King’s Bark, the Endeavour, on her voyage round the World and made many discoveries in the south seas and in high Southern Latitudes.”
This building is now a museum in Australia.
3a
Title: Staithes
Description:View of Staithes from the West Cliff
From: Rev. J.C. Atkinson 1874. “History of Cleveland Ancient and Modern”. London, Simpkin, Marshall & Co.
Date:1874
Author: Engraved by R.J. Hamerton from a photograph by Richards & Ludlam, printed by J.Richardson.
Dimensions:
Collection: Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:F3.2A
Record no.:F32A Staithes.jpg /
Staithes
In early 1745 Cook went to work for William Sanderson, merchant, haberdasher and grocer of Staithes. There Cook would have experienced for the first time life in a small but busy fishing village. He soon decided to move to Whitby to embark on a seafaring life and left Staithes mid-1746.
Sanderson’s small shop was located on the seafront but was either dismantled or washed away in a storm in the early 19th century. Most of the building materials were re-used to construct new premises that can still be seen on Church Street.
3a
Title: Whitby
Description: Whitby in the late 18th century with a bark leaving the harbour.
Watercolour
Date: late 18th century
Author: John Bird
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby
Reference no: C00.126
Record no.: Whitby /

Whitby

In 1746 James became apprentice to John Walker, a Whitby ship owner whose collier cats or barks transported coal between Newcastle and London, a round trip of about four weeks. Cook sailed on various vessels, including “Freelove”; “Three Brothers”, which saw Cook released from his apprenticeship (1749); “The Mary of Whitby”; and “Friendship”, of which he became Mate (1752).
During winter months outside of the sailing season ships were overwintered at Whitby. Repairs were carried out to vessels and Cook, like the other apprentices, lodged at Mr. Walker’s house in Grape Lane. During these periods Cook appears to have studied hard and by 1755 he had the chance to become Master of the “Friendship”, deciding instead to join the Royal Navy.

****************THE FOLLOWING IS GALLERY 2********************

3a
Title: Halifax
Description: Coloured plan of Cornwallis Island with ink detail of the town of Halifax with lettered explanation including North & South suburbs, fathoms marked.
Date: 1758-62
Author: James Cook
Dimensions:
Collection: British Library
Reference no: Ad.Ms.31360 f.9
Record no.:C2230-04 /

Halifax

In 1755 Cook joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman aboard the ship “Eagle” and saw active service in the English Channel and Atlantic. By 1757 Cook had passed his master’s examination and was assigned first to HMS Solebay and then HMS Pembroke where his talents were noticed by the captain.
Early in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) against France, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the main British base in Canada. Cook sailed with the fleet to Canada, arriving in Halifax in May 1758. There he took part in the blockade of Louisbourg, which the French finally surrendered in July 1758, and was taught how to survey and make charts by Samuel Holland, an army surveyor-engineer.
Cook spent the next few winters and the whole of 1761 in Halifax where he made charts of the town and harbour.
3a
Title: South Channel of Orleans, Quebec
Description: A PLAN/ of the TRAVERSE/or Passage from/CAPE TORMENT/into the South Channel of / ORLEANS
Scale of three miles.
Shows coastline, soundings & landmarks.
Ink & watercolour
Date: about 1759-60
Author: James Cook
Dimensions:
Collection: British Library
Reference no: Add.Ms.31360 f.14
Record no.:C3117-05 /

South Channel of Orleans, Quebec

Following the fall of Louisbourg the British wintered in Halifax but in May 1759 set off up the St. Lawrence River to capture the main French stronghold of Quebec. Cook’s ship assisted with the ferrying of troops and the charting of the St.Lawrence River in preparation for the assault on Quebec. The town fell to the British in September 1759 after an assault by the army of General Wolfe.
Cook’s talents as a surveyor and mapmaker had come to the notice of Admiral Saunders and he was transferred to the 70-gun ship Northumberland that remained in Canada as part of a small detachment for the next two years. Saunders, with the main fleet, returned to Britain where he arranged for Cook’s charts to be published.
3
Title: Quebec Harbour
Description: Quebec Harbour River St. Lawrence to “A scale of Three Thousand Yards”
Shows Island of Orleans, N & S Channels of Orleans and full soundings.
Ink & water-colour.
Date: about 1760
Author: James Cook
Dimensions:
Collection: British Library
Reference no: Add. Ms. 31360
f.26
Record no.:C2230-10 /

Quebec Harbour

Following the fall of Louisbourg the British wintered in Halifax but in May 1759 set off up the St. Lawrence River to capture the main French stronghold of Quebec. Cook’s ship assisted with the ferrying of troops and the charting of the St.Lawrence River in preparation for the assault on Quebec. The town fell to the British in September 1759 after an assault by the army of General Wolfe.
Cook’s talents as a surveyor and mapmaker had come to the notice of Admiral Saunders and he was transferred to the 70-gun ship Northumberland that remained in Canada as part of a small detachment for the next two years. Saunders, with the main fleet, returned to Britain where he arranged for Cook’s charts to be published.
3a
Title: Drawstring purse
Description: Drawstring purse made of cream silk with blue stripes embroidered with flowers in coloured thread. Said to be made from a piece of Mrs Elizabeth Cook’s wedding dress.
Date:c.1762-1850
Author:
Dimensions:
Collection: Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough Council
Reference no:
Record no.:P1120734 /

Drawstring purse

In mid-1762 the French turned their attention to Newfoundland and the important cod fisheries there. Cook started to survey the south east coastal areas of Newfoundland, a task he continued with for the next five years.
In October 1762 Cook returned to England and married Elizabeth Batts in Barking. Elizabeth lived at ‘The Bell’ public house, Wapping, before she married and probably met Cook there on one of his many visits to London. The couple first lived in Shadwell but soon moved to Mile End in 1763. They had five sons and one daughter, the first, James, being born in 1763.
3a
Title: Plan of the Harbour of St.Peters
Description: A PLAN/of the/HARBOUR/of/ST PETERS/off S. Coast Newfoundland Low water soundings
References to:
  1. Stagins for splitting & salting fish
  2. Warfes
  3. Beach for drying fish
(Symbol): rock above water
(symbol): rock under water
Shows Isle Dogs; Boar Island & Pigeon Island
Date: 1765
Author: James Cook
Dimensions:

Collection: British Library

Reference no: Add.Ms.31360 f.20

Record no.:C2229-07 / Plan of the Harbour of St.Peters
In July 1762 the French attacked the important British cod fishing bases in south east Newfoundland but the British quickly took these back. By the Treaty of Paris in 1763 France retained small areas in south Newfoundland but gave up other claims to Canada. Realising the importance of having accurate charts of the coast, the Governor of Newfoundland commissioned Cook and others to produce them.
For the next five years Cook surveyed the coast of Newfoundland during the summer periods, returning to Britain for the winters. In 1762-63 Cook surveyed the coast of Placentia, south east Newfoundland; 1763-64 north Newfoundland; 1765 south Newfoundland; 1766 southwest Newfoundland; and 1767 west Newfoundland. Cook returned to London in November 1767.