James Cook
James Cook was born on the 7th of November 1728 in the village of Marton, located in the North Riding of Yorkshire. His father worked as a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire while his mother Grace Pace came from Thornaby-on-Tees. The family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton in 1736 where Thomas Skottowe paid for James to attend a school run by a charitable foundation. After five years of schooling he began work for his father who had been promoted to farm manager. At age sixteen Cook moved to the fishing village of Staithes to be apprenticed as a shopboy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson. He proved unsuited for shop work after eighteen months and travelled to Whitby where he met ship-owners John and Henry Walker. The Walkers took him on as a merchant navy apprentice in their small fleet of vessels plying coal along the English coast. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove and he spent several years sailing between the Tyne and London. During this apprenticeship Cook applied himself to the study of algebra geometry trigonometry navigation and astronomy. Upon completing his three-year apprenticeship he began working on merchant ships in the Baltic Sea. After obtaining his mariner licence in 1752 he was promoted to the rank of master and began serving on the collier brig Friendship.
Cook joined the Royal Navy at Wapping on the 17th of June 1755 when Britain was expanding its naval forces in anticipation of the conflict that became known as the Seven Years War. He entered the navy when two years old and served as able seaman and master's mate under Captain Joseph Hamar and later Captain Hugh Palliser. In October and November 1755 he took part in Eagles capture of one French warship and the sinking of another. Following the death of Eagles boatswain Cook was unofficially promoted to fill that role in January 1756. His first command came in March 1756 when he was briefly in charge of Cruizer a small cutter attached to Eagle. In June 1757 Cook passed his masters examinations at Trinity House Deptford qualifying him to navigate and handle a ship of the Kings fleet. During the Seven Years War Cook served in North America as master aboard the fourth-rate Navy vessel. With others in Pembrokes crew he took part in the major amphibious assault that captured the Fortress of Louisbourg in Nova Scotia from the French in 1758. The day after the fall of Louisbourg Cook met an army officer Samuel Holland who was using a plane table to survey the area. They collaborated on developing preliminary charts of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River with Cook writing the accompanying sailing directions. Cooks first map to be engraved and printed was of Gaspé Bay drawn in 1758 and published in 1759.
Cook's first scientific voyage was a three-year expedition to the south Pacific Ocean aboard HMS Endeavour conducted from 1768 to 1771. The publicly stated goal was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. Additional objectives outlined in secret orders included searching for the postulated Terra Australis and claiming lands for Britain. In early 1768 the Admiralty asked the shipwright Adam Hayes to select a vessel for the expedition; he chose the merchant collier Earl of Pembroke which the Royal Navy renamed Endeavour. On the 5th of May 1768 based on the recommendation of Hugh Palliser Cook aged thirty-nine was selected by the Admiralty to lead the voyage. The next day he took his examination for the rank of lieutenant. The expedition departed England on the 25th of August 1768 and headed south to round Cape Horn into the Pacific. They made a stop in Tierra del Fuego where Cook composed his first anthropological essay detailing his observations of the indigenous Haush people. The ship continued westward across the Pacific arriving at Tahiti on the 13th of April 1769 where the observations of the transit of Venus were made. In May Cook and some of his crew observed Tahitians surfing becoming the first Europeans to witness the practice.
As directed by his secret orders Cook began his search for the postulated southern continent of Terra Australis. He sailed to New Zealand and in October 1769 landed at Poverty Bay near the Tūranganui River. With the aid of Tupaia a Tahitian priest who had joined the expedition Cook was the first European to communicate with the Māori. However encounters with them on the first two days turned violent with the British shooting several dead. Sailing north Endeavour anchored at Mercury Bay on the 9th of November where Cook observed the transit of Mercury and claimed the bay for Britain. In January 1770 Cook arrived in Queen Charlotte Sound on the north coast of New Zealands South Island. He claimed the location for Britain and it became a favourite base for his future voyages. While there Cook came upon Māori eating the flesh of enemies they had recently killed which confirmed stories of cannibalism his crew had heard in Poverty Bay. Cook established that a strait separated the North Island from the South Island and then completed the circumnavigation of New Zealands main islands mapping almost the complete coastline.
Cook's second voyage travelled west-to-east to take advantage of the Roaring Forties winds while searching for Terra Australis. In 1772 Cook was commissioned to lead a second scientific expedition on behalf of the Royal Society with the objective of determining the existence of the hypothetical continent Terra Australis. This voyage would have two ships Resolution commanded by him and Adventure commanded by Tobias Furneaux. After departing England the ships travelled south to South Africa and stopped at Cape Town in November 1772. From there they sailed eastwards planning to circumnavigate the globe roughly between latitude fifty degrees south and seventy degrees south. In late November 1772 the ships sighted their first icebergs and Cook performed an experiment: his crew retrieved blocks of ice and melted them on board the ships producing good quality fresh water. On the 17th of January 1773 the crews became the first recorded Europeans to cross the Antarctic Circle. Despite his mission to find Terra Australis Cook never sighted Antarctica in any of his voyages but on the 18th of January unbeknownst to him the ships approached within one hundred miles of that continent.
The third voyage searched for a North-West Passage connecting the northern Pacific to the northern Atlantic. The primary objective of Cook's third expedition was to search for this passage while simultaneously returning Polynesian native Mai to his home in Tahiti. On this voyage Cook again commanded Resolution while Captain Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. Continuing northward after a brief stop at Kiritimati the expedition became the first recorded Europeans to see the Hawaiian Islands on the 18th of January 1778. During this first visit to Hawaii they made landfall at two locations Waimea harbour on the island of Kaua'i and the nearby island of Ni'ihau. When he first stepped ashore the Hawaiians prostrated themselves in front of Cook. One of Cook's crew John Williamson shot and killed a Hawaiian man while ashore collecting provisions infuriating Cook. Cook returned to Hawaii in late November 1778 stopping first in Maui. The ships sailed around the eastern portion of the archipelago for seven weeks surveying and trading. Cook made landfall at Kealakekua Bay on Hawaii Island where the ships were met by ten thousand Hawaiians and one thousand canoes.
After a month on Hawaii Island Cook set sail to resume his exploration of the northern Pacific but shortly after departure a strong gale caused Resolutions foremast to break so the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs. Relations between the crew and the Hawaiians were already strained before the departure and they grew worse when the ship returned for repairs. Numerous quarrels broke out and petty thefts were common. On the 13th of February 1779 a group of Hawaiians stole one of Cook's cutters. The following day Cook attempted to recover the cutter by kidnapping and ransoming the king Kalani'ōpu'u. Cook and a small party marched through the village to retrieve the king. As they got to the boats one of Kalani'ōpu'u's favourite wives Kānekapōlei and two chiefs approached the group pleading with the king not to go. A large crowd began to form at the shore. News reached the Hawaiians that a high-ranking Hawaiian chief had been shot while trying to break through a British blockade which exacerbated the already tense situation. Hawaiian warriors confronted the landing party and threatened them with stones clubs and daggers. Cook fired a warning shot then shot one of the Hawaiians dead. The Hawaiians continued to attack and the British fired more shots before retreating to the boats. Cook and four marines were killed in the affray and left on the shore.
Hawaiians took the bodies of Cook and the marines inland to a village. James King took a boat to the opposite side of the bay and was approached by a priest who offered to intercede and ask for Cook's remains to be returned. On the 19th of February a truce was arranged and some of Cook's remains were returned to Resolution including several bones the skull some charred flesh and the hands with the skin still attached. A large scar on the right hand from his 1764 powder horn injury confirmed that the remains belonged to Cook. The crew placed the remains in a weighted box and buried their captain at sea. Clerke had assumed leadership of the expedition and the ships left the bay on the 23rd of February 1779. They spent five weeks charting the coasts of the islands in accordance with a plan set out by Cook before his death. Important monuments to Cook include one in the church of St Andrew the Great in Cambridge where his wife and two of his sons are buried and statues of Cook in Hyde Park in Sydney and at St Kilda in Melbourne. Since 1959 an annual reenactment of Cook's 1770 landing has been held near the site of the original event in Cooktown with the support and participation of many of the local Guugu Yimithirr people.
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Common questions
When and where was James Cook born?
James Cook was born on the 7th of November 1728 in the village of Marton located in the North Riding of Yorkshire. His father worked as a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire while his mother Grace Pace came from Thornaby-on-Tees.
What were the objectives of James Cook's first scientific voyage to the south Pacific Ocean?
The publicly stated goal for James Cook's expedition aboard HMS Endeavour from 1768 to 1771 was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from Tahiti. Additional secret orders included searching for the postulated Terra Australis and claiming lands for Britain.
How did James Cook die during his third voyage?
Hawaiian warriors killed James Cook and four marines on the 13th of February 1779 after he attempted to recover a stolen cutter by kidnapping King Kalani'ōpu'u. The affray occurred at Kealakekua Bay following escalating tensions between the crew and the local population.
Which European explorer was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle?
James Cook became the first recorded European to cross the Antarctic Circle on the 17th of January 1773 during his second voyage. Although he never sighted Antarctica, his ships approached within one hundred miles of that continent on the 18th of January 1773.
When did James Cook first make landfall in Hawaii?
James Cook made landfall at Waimea harbour on Kaua'i and Ni'ihau on the 18th of January 1778 becoming the first recorded Europeans to see the Hawaiian Islands. He returned to Hawaii in late November 1778 and established contact with ten thousand Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay.