COOK, JAMES (1728-1779) was born at Cleveland, Yorkshire, the son of a day labourer of Marton. Mrs Mary Walker, the wife of a respectable yeoman, taught him a little reading and writing while he worked on their farm, watering stock and doing other tasks. When he was eight years old his father removed to Ayton as bailiff of Skottowe, and James continued his schooling at High Green, where he showed considerable aptitude at arithmetic and writing.

At 13 he was apprenticed to a grocer and haberdasher at Staithes, 10 miles from Whitby, and after 18 months there he was bound to John Walker, a coal and shipping owner of Whitby. He made several voyages in the Freelove and the Three Brothers, carrying coal in the North Sea and to Liverpool and Dublin. In 1749 Cook went to sea before the mast for three years, and in 1752 became mate of one of Walker's ships, the Friendship. On the outbreak of war with France in 1755 he entered as a volunteer seaman in H.M.S. Eagle, 60 guns, in which he was rated as master's mate a month later. In her he saw his first naval engagement (with the French Indiaman Duc d'Aquitaine, 50 guns, which was captured). In 1757 he was master of the Solebay, and a few months later of the Pembroke, in which he saw service again at the reduction of Louisburg in Canada by naval and military forces under Admiral Boscawen and Major-general Amherst. After that the fleet moved to the St Lawrence to harry the French forces in Canada. Cook wintered at the Ile aux Coudres, where he was engaged for many weeks in the boats of the fleet sounding and charting the waterway for the forthcoming operations. The excellence of his charts attracted the attention of his commander, and subsequently the senior officer, Lord Colville, appointed him master of the flagship Northumberland. Wintering in Halifax the following year, Cook spent some time studying mathematics and obtaining a sound knowledge of astronomical navigation. After carrying out a survey of Placentia harbour he was in 1763 appointed marine surveyor of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, with command of the Grenville schooner. He held this position until 1767, and published his results as volumes of sailing directions which still retain a reputation for accuracy.

When in the following year the Admiralty prepared an expedition to observe the transit of Venus in the Pacific, Cook was given command, and raised to the rank of lieutenant. He sailed in the Endeavour (370 tons) on 26 Aug 1768, and arrived at Tahiti in Apr 1769 by way of Cape Horn. The transit was successfully observed in Jun. On the way home (on 7 Oct) New Zealand, which was believed to be part of the southern continent, was sighted. On 9 Oct Cook anchored at Turanganui. Six months were spent on the coasts of this country, which was for the first time circumnavigated, examined and charted with some approach to accuracy. Cook had several encounters with the Maori, whom he considered intelligent and comparatively civilized. Though he desired to make friends they were often hostile, and firearms had at times to be used to compel them to observe fairness in trading or to desist from aggression. Many points on the coast were named during this voyage (including Poverty Bay, Cape Kidnappers, and Cape Palliser) and the scientists, Joseph Banks and Dr Solander made valuable collections of new plants. On 15 Nov he took possession of Mercury Bay, and on 31 Jan 1770 of Queen Charlotte Sound, where he had careened his ship for cleaning. After circumnavigating the South Island, Cook made his departure from Cape Farewell on 31 Mar and proceeded to examine the north-east coast of Australia. After two months at Batavia, the Endeavour reached England by way of South Africa on 12 Jun 1771.

The success of the voyage and the importance of the discoveries being recognised, Cook was promoted to the rank of commander and given command of a new expedition for the exploration of the Pacific. This expedition, which sailed from Plymouth on 13 Apr 1772, consisted of two ships, the Resolution (460 tons) commanded by Cook, and the Adventure (330 tons) commanded by Tobias Furneaux, with a staff of competent astronomers, naturalists and artists. Proceeding by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and following a southerly route in the hope of sighting the southern continent, the Resolution arrived at New Zealand alone and anchored at Dusky Bay on 26 Mar 1773. On 18 May the two ships met in Queen Charlotte sound, where friendly relations with the Maori were established, provisions taken on board, and pigs and goats liberated. On 7 Jun the ships left. After a visit to Tahiti and the Friendly Islands, on which the position of numerous islands was noted or rectified, the two ships returned to New Zealand on 21 Oct. On 2 Nov Cook discovered the entrance of Port Nicholson and anchored off it, but did not enter. He spent some time in Ship Cove refitting and sailed on 25 Nov for the far south. He reached the latitude of 62° 10" south and explored many leagues of the Antarctic, afterwards sailing north to the New Hebrides and discovering New Caledonia. On 17 Oct 1774 he again saw mount Egmont. He overhauled his vessel in Ship Cove and, having waited in vain for the Adventure, he sailed on 10 Nov for England. Proceeding by way of Cape Horn, he discovered South Georgia and reached England on 29 Jul 1775, the Adventure having arrived more than a year earlier. She had had a fatal experience in Grass Cove (Wharehunga Bay), Queen Charlotte Sound, where a boat's crew was massacred and eaten.

Cook was promoted to captain and appointed to the Greenwich Hospital. He was given permission to publish his account of the voyage, which besides being important from the point of view of discoveries was remarkable for the high standard of health of the crew and the absence of scurvy. In the following year Cook was given command of a third expedition which was sent out to investigate the North West Passage. It consisted of the Resolution and the Discovery (commanded by Captain Charles Clerke). The expedition, with a large supply of livestock, sailed on 12 Jul 1776 and reached New Zealand by way of South Africa on 10 Feb 1777. Some of the animals were landed at Queen Charlotte Sound, and on 23 Feb Cook sailed for Tahiti (where the rest of the stock was landed). After visiting other Pacific islands they sailed to the west coast of North America, which was followed northward as far as Icy Cape, in Behring Strait. In Jan 1779 Cook anchored at Karakakoa Bay, Hawaii. There the natives, with whom he always tried to deal fairly, were friendly but dishonest, and in a scuffle which occurred as a result of thieving Cook was killed (on 14 Feb 1779). Portions of his body were given up by the natives and buried at sea. In Dec 1762 Cook married Miss Batts, of Barking, by whom he had six children, all of whom died fairly young.

Cook's life was written by Arthur Kitson (1907) and good articles appear in the Dictionary of National Biography and the Encyclopedia Britannica. The earliest Life, by Andrew Kippis (1778) is of little biographical value. Many editions of his voyages have been published, notably the narrative of the first voyage (edited by Hawkesworth, 1773); of the second voyage (1777); and the third voyage (1784). Cook's own journal of his first voyage, much garbled by Hawkesworth, was published by Wharton in 1893. The fullest bibliography, based on material in Australian libraries, was published by the Public Library of New South Wales in 1928. There is also a short critical bibliography by Maurice Holmes (1936). The most important portraits are by Nathaniel Dance (1776) now in Greenwich Hospital, and frequently reproduced, and by William Hodges.

D.N.B.; Encycl. Brit.; Kitson (op. cit.); Cycl. NZ, i; Hocken, Bibliog.

Reference: Volume 1, page 104

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