Famous people and Whitby: Captain James Cook

Whitby is famous for?

Whitby (St Hilda's) Abbey, Dracula, Bram Stoker, Captain Cook, Whitby Goths, Whitby Regatta, Whitby Whaling, Fishing, St Mary's Church, Whitby Jet, Whitby Witches, Whitby Town, The Whitby Seagull, 199 Steps, Harbour, Whitby Piers, Shipping Trades, Alum Production, B&Bs, The East Cliff, Captain William Scoresby, Fisherman's Cottages, Whitby's Yards, Steps and cobbled streets, Fish and Chips, The Endeavour, Ghost Walks, Sea Food, Seaside, The West Cliff, Whitby Folk Festival, Caedmon, Frank Sutcliffe, Whitby Kippers, Lobster, Crabs and Scampi, Synod of A.D. 664, Australian 'First Fleet' supply vessels,

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Discover Whitby's street names and their history here

Break the ice, Jury, Binge drinking, Incredible Hulk, Down the hatch, ...discover these and many more well known phrases from our maritime past here

Find out about the building styles and architecture found in the buildings of Whitby here.

Whitby in times gone by, ads from the past here

Old Whitby Ad

Captain James Cook was born in Marton near Middlesbrough in 1778. After a village schooling and an uninspiring spell as a shop assistant, Cook was taken to Whitby at the age of 18 in 1746, and introduced to the ship owner, Captain Walker. Walker apprenticed him as a ‘three year servant’.

According to tradition, Walker lodged his apprentices when not at sea, Cook among them, in his house in Grape Lane – now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

Cook was in Whitby for nine years, a quarter of his sea-going career. After his apprenticeship, he continued to serve in Walker’s ships rising to master’s mate. These ships were collier barks built in Whitby, the same type of ship used later on the Great Voyages. Whitby ‘taught him his trade’.

In 1755, Walker was about to promote him ‘master’. Cook had other ideas. He decided to take his chances in the Royal Navy, and signed on in London.

Cook’s service in Canada led to his appointments to command the three Great Voyages to the Pacific. He was killed in a fracas with natives in Hawaii in 1779.

Cook was based in London from 1755 onwards. He had joined the Navy with Captain Walker’s blessing, and their friendship was lasting. Cook is known to have visited Whitby in January 1772 when Walker entertained him at the house in Grape Lane.

In 1768 cook was sent to Australia by the British Admiralty and the Royal society to observe the transit of the planet Venus. The purpose of the voyage was to calculate the distance of Venus from the earth and to try and help in understanding the size of the universe.

"Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for man to go" James Cook, 30 Jan 1774.

Captain James Cook

Cooks Ships were all built in Whitby.
Endeavour - previously called the Earl of Pembroke
Resolution - previously called Drake
Adventure - previously called Raleigh
Discovery

1st Voyage

Observed the ‘Transit of Venus’ from Tahiti – to help calculate the distance of the earth from the sun

Circumnavigated and charted New Zealand

Discovered and charted the east coast of Australia

2nd Voyage

Made the first crossing of the Antarctic Circle

Disproved the existence of a ‘Great Southern Continent’

3rd Voyage

Became the first European to find the islands of Hawaii

Disproved the theory that there was an easy passage from the Pacific to Hudson’s Bay

Explored the arctic seas north of the Bering straits – an unsuccessful attempt to find the North West Passage from the Pacific side of North America.

Captain Cook Birth Place

Above birthplace of Cook.

Would you like to visit the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby? see link here for more info

Whitby is famous for?

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK