The site of Cook's first landing, at Kurnell on Botany Bay, was intended to be the site of the first British colony in Australia, but when Captain Arthur Phillip arrived with the First Fleet in 1788, he felt that Botany Bay was unsuitable, and sailed a short distance northwards to Port Jackson, for the establishment of Sydney. Next, he went on to Australia, where he discovered its east coast. Cook mapped its complete coastline, discovering Cook Strait which separates the North Island from the South Island. He also reached New Zealand, which until then had been visited by Europeans only once, by Abel Tasman in 1642. The Royal Society, and especially Alexander Dalrymple, insisted Terra Australis must exist, despite Cook's personal doubts. He then explored the South Pacific for the mythical continent of Terra Australis, with the help a Tahitian named Tupaia who had extensive knowledge of Pacific geography. Leaving in 1768, he arrived on Apin Tahiti where he built a small fort and observatory to observe the transit however, due to the lack of precise scientific instruments, there was no way to accurately measure it. In 1766 the Society hired him to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record a transit of Venus across the Sun. Voyages of exploration First voyage (1768–71)Įndeavour replica in Cooktown, Queensland to find new routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic.to watch for good places for new military bases.to take over the land for the British King George III.to find the Southern continent ( terra australis incognita).Their names were Mary Cook, Margaret Cook, William Cook, Jane Cook and John Cook. Their names were Elizabeth Cook, Hugh Cook, George Cook, Nathaniel Cook and Joseph Cook. His surveying skills were put to good use in the 1760s mapping the jagged coast of Newfoundland, which brought him to the attention of the Royal Society.Ĭook's distinctive and huge achievements can be attributed to a combination of excellent seamanship, his superior surveying and cartographic skills (map-making), courage in exploring dangerous locations to confirm the facts (e.g dipping into the Antarctic circle repeatedly and exploring around the Great Barrier reef) and boldness both with the regard to the extent of his explorations and going beyond the instructions given by the Admiralty. He showed a talent for surveying and cartography and was responsible for mapping much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River. He learned his craft in Whitby vessels trading to the Baltic and two of the vessels he used on his long and perilous voyages – ‘Resolution’ and ‘Endeavour’ were built in Whitby.During the Seven Years' War he served in the Royal Navy. It is as Captain Cook that the world still knows him – the man who charted the coast of New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia and who was one of the greatest surveyors as well as one of the finest sailors and explorers of all time. Later, he joined the Royal Navy and was rapidly promoted to a command. The house where he lodged with his master is still in Whitby's Grape Lane and is now open to the public as the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. ![]() ![]() Later he moved to Whitby and became a trainee with a local shipping firm. There he fell in love with the sea and his time in Staithes is remembered in the Captain Cook and Staithes Heritage Centre. James Cook (1728-1779) was born in the village of Marton near Middlesbrough and later apprenticed to a draper in the small fishing harbour of Staithes (11 miles north of Whitby).
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