Cook, Captain James

b. 1728; d. 1779

English navigator, born at Marton, Yorkshire. He was apprenticed when 12 to a haberdasher at Staithes, near Whitby, but left him owing to a dispute and boarded a ship as collier's apprentice, soon becoming mate. In 1755 Cook joined the navy and was appointed successively master of three sloops, in the last of which he served in the St Lawrence, being present at the capture of Quebec. He was employed in sounding the St Lawrence and published a chart of the river from Quebec to the sea.

In 1763 he surveyed the coast of Newfoundland and the next year was appointed marine surveyor of Newfoundland and Labrador. His charts and observations attracted the attention of the Royal Society, who invited him to take part in an expedition for the purpose of making an observation of the transit of Venus. He received a lieutenant's commission and set sail in the Endeavour, a vessel of 370 tonnes, accompanied by several scientists, including Sir Joseph Banks. On 13 April 1769 he reached Otaheite (Tahiti), where he erected a makeshift observatory and succeeded in making the necessary astronomical observations. He then sailed in quest of the great continent which for centuries had been supposed to exist in the Southern Ocean and reached the islands of New Zealand, unexplored since their first discovery by Tasman in 1642. Supplies were refused him by the Maoris of Poverty Bay, North Island, but granted by those of the Bay of Plenty - hence the names. During the ensuing six months he circumnavigated the islands and established the existence of the channel dividing New Zealand into two large islands. From New Zealand he sailed to New Holland (Australia) and sighted Botany Bay. Cook explored the coast and took possession of it in the name of Great Britain, naming it New South Wales. Thence he sailed to New Guinea and to Batavia, arriving back in England on 11 June 1771, where he was at once promoted to captain's rank and put in charge of a second expedition.

He set out in command of the Resolution, and a smaller ship, the Adventure, the object of the voyage being to pursue the quest of the great southern continent. Setting sail from Plymouth on 13 July 1772, he touched at Madeira and the Cape of Good Hope and explored the specified latitudes. He made the first crossing of the Antarctic Circle on 16 January 1773, but was driven north and after wintering at the Society Islands, so naming them in honour of the Royal Society, he made further explorations eastward and, turning northwards, navigated the southern tropic from Easter Island to the New Hebrides and discovered the islands which he named New Caledonia.

In 1774 Cook sailed as far as the Fiji Islands, anchoring off Vatoa or Turtle Island. After yet another attempt, during which he reached his most southerly in 70º 10' S latitude, 105º 54' W longitude on 27 January 1774, he gave up hope of finding land and sailed for home. Cook next volunteered to lead the expedition to discover the north-west passage.

His last and fatal voyage was begun on 25 June 1776, Cook sailing in the Resolution, and his second in command, Captain Clerke, in the Discovery. In the course of his voyage he discovered the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) which he named after the Earl of Sandwich; he then proceeded to America, penetrating into what was afterwards called Cook Inlet. Prevented from proceeding any further by a wall of ice, he returned to the Sandwich Islands, where he was killed in 1779 in Kealakekua Bay in the Hawaiian islands over a dispute with the local tribesmen about one of the boats of the Discovery which had been stolen. Cook, in addition to his achievements as a navigator, performed great services for his country in his geographical and scientific investigations. In 1934 his cottage in Great Ayton was presented to the government of Victoria, and transported to Melbourne for re-erection in the Fitzroy Gardens. The original deeds transferring the land to him and bearing his signature are also in the possession of the Victorian government.

His works are An Account of a Voyage round the World, 1773, edited by W.H.L. Whatron, 1893); A Voyage towards the South Pole and round the World, 1777; A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, 1784.

© JM Dent/Historybookshop.com