The following information has been kindly researched by the Cooktown Historical Society and others where noted.
Cook’s Landing
In 1770, Captain James Cook and his ship the “Endeavour” ran afoul of the Great Barrier Reef and seriously damaged the hull. To avoid sinking, all the crew and stores had to be offloaded in order to free the “Endeavour” from the reef. Cook needed to find safe waters, and fast, so he sailed his damaged 368 ton vessel into the closest river he could find. It was here that his crew of 87 men, some of whom all Australians are familiar with, like Banks, Solander, Hicks and Monkhouse, were evacuated to the shore and told to make camp in order to assist with the massive task of repairing the hull of their crippled ship.
Cooks’ stay in that harbour was to be his longest onshore stay for his entire voyage. He later named the river “Endeavour” after the great vessel whose life it saved. It was the only river in Australia that he would name.
Read some fast facts about the crew’s stay in Cooktown
Captain James Cook
Captain James Cook, R.N., F.R.S., hailed from humble beginnings. Life began in a simple thatched cottage in North Yorkshire, England on 27 October 1728. Born the son of a Scottish farmer and his Yorkshire wife, James received basic schooling at home in Marton.
When the family moved to Aireyholme Farm, his father’s employer, Thomas Scottowe, became instrumental in shaping Cook’s destiny. He paid for the boy’s education and became his mentor.
In 1744, James left home. Scottowe arranged work for him in the fishing village of Staithes. Eighteen months later, James decided his future lay in the maritime service and not the world of commerce.
In April 1746, James became an apprentice to John Walker, a Whitby ship owner. On the eve of obtaining command of a collier, he left the merchant service to join the Royal Navy.
As a natural navigator and leader, he rose rapidly through the ranks. In those days, rarely were sons of the working class considered for promotion. His voyage to Canadian waters was to alter that philosophy. Between 1763 - 1767, Cook’s surveys of the St Lawrence Channel, and the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador, clearly demonstrated his skill for command and exploration. He was promoted to lieutenant and began preparations for his voyage of discovery aboard the Endeavour.
In the following 3 years, Cook observed and recorded the transit of Venus at Tahiti, charted the coast of New Zealand, the east coast of Australia and part of the southern coast of New Guinea.
The voyage through the Great Barrier reef was challenging and dangerous. In June 1770, the Endeavour grounded on an uncharted reef. Cook beached the ship in the sheltered waters of what he later named the Endeavour River. Seven weeks later he and his crew continued their northward course.
Cook embarked on the second voyage with two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure in 1772. Returning to the Pacific region, he skirted the Antarctic ice fields, visited Tahiti and the New Hebrides and discovered and charted New Caledonia. After covering a distance equal to three circumnavigations of the globe in just under three years, Cook returned to England.
The Resolution was to be Captain James Cook’s final commission. He was charged with discovering a new trading route to the East Indies via the top of North America.
It was on this fateful mission, at a provisioning stop in Hawaii, that he was slain by natives, on 14 February 1779. His remains were returned to the crew and he was buried in the waters of Kealakekun Bay.
Cook embraced the pioneering spirit wholeheartedly. He dedicated his life and career to exploration and the expansion of scientific and geographic knowledge.
Source: Cooktown Library Publication, 1996.
The Voyage of HMB Endeavour 1768-1771
The voyage of HMB Endeavour to the Pacific was instigated by the Royal Society, a body dedicated to scientific research. The society wished to obtain information on the time it would take the planet Venus to pass in front of the sun while the sun and earth were in line. It was known that this passage, or transit, would occur in early June 1769 and scientists had calculated that the best observation points would be North Cape in the Arctic Circle, Point Churchill on Hudson Bay and the Pacific island of Othaheite.
The Secondary aim, later the most significant part of the voyage, was dictated by the Admiralty. Their instruction: to search the southern seas for Terra Australis incognita - the unknown southern land - in whose existance explorers and philosophers had long believed.
Cook, an accomplished astronomer, navigator and surveyor was the obvious choice for the task. Indeed, it is doubtful whether another Commander of equal capabilities could have been found.
The Endeavour set sail from Plymouth on the 26 August 1768. On board, under the command of James Cook were 72 crew members. A party of 12 marines led by Sgt Edgecombe and 11 civilians, which included Joseph Banks and Sydney Parkinson, Brought the ship’s company to 94.
En route to Othaheite landfall was made at Madeira Spain, and Rio de Janeiro. In Rio a longboat was stolen and sunk. Officials suspected Cook and his crew of spying and smuggling so shore leave was restricted. Rounding Cape Horn, Banks insisted on landing in order to collect botanical specimens. It was a foolish demand in such treacherous waters. Bank’s adventure cost the lives of two of his servants and left the rest of the shore party in a state of almost total collapse from exhaustion and exposure.
The Endeavour arrived at Othaheite on 13 April 1769. The Transit of Venus was duly observed and recorded on 3 June and two months later Cook sailed south to fulfill the second part of his mission.
On 6 October Cook sighted the land which had been seen and reported by Tasman 127 Years before, and the Endeavour anchored in what is now known Poverty Bay in the North Island of New Zealand. The land was claimed for Great Britain and for the next six months Cook surveyed and charted the coastlines of the North and South Islands. Sailing south-west Cook would have reached what is now known as Bass Strait but bad weather forced him to adopt a northerly course and the naming headland and bays. Significant landfall was made at Botany Bay, Round Head Point (the site of the township of 1770) and of course, here on the banks of the Endeavour River.
After repairing the Endeavour, Cook continued northwards and on 21 August 1770 he landed on the island he named Possession and claimed the east coast of new Holland for Great Britain. Resuming his journey he travelled west, charting part of the south coast of New Guinea, heading for what he believed would be the safe and friendly anchorage of Batavia, Java.
Sadly, Batavia was not the haven Cook and his men expected. While repairing and provisioning the ship they were subjected to all manner of ‘official’ delays, petty thefts and swindles and worst of all they were exposed to disease. After two years at sea Cook had rigorously overseen the diet and health care of every man on board thus preventing scurvey and other ‘normal’ shipboard diseases, the men of the Endeavour were infected with malaria and other ailments. During the final seven months of the voyage 24 Crew members, 3 marines and 4 civilians died.
The Endeavour voyage ended at Plymouth on 13 July 1771.
See a sample menu served up to the crew - Rat Stew
