Who was Captain James Cook?
Cook was described by his patron, Sir Hugh Palliser as: “the ablest and most renowned navigator that this or any country has ever produced.” Born in Marton, Cleveland, in 1728, the son of a humble farm labourer, he rose to become an internationally known naval captain and explorer – a considerable achievement in the eighteenth century. Cook served his maritime apprenticeship working for a Whitby-based ship owner, taking coal from Tyneside to London. He joined the Royal Navy in 1755 and worked his way through the ranks from able seaman to captain. In Canada he learned how to survey and draw navigation charts. Cook’s skills as a seaman and navigator came to the notice of the Admiralty and the Royal Society and in1768 he was chosen to lead a scientific expedition into the Pacific Ocean to observe the Transit of Venus across the Sun and to find the great southern continent. One of Cook’s great achievements was to disprove popular belief in the existence of this continent. During this first
