Description:
The address is Captain Cook Park, Prince Edward Parade, Redcliffe 4020 (opposite the police station).
On two levels, the park has views over Moreton Bay area.
Two memorial stones lie within the park.
There is a small grassed area suitable for small events.
History:
Dedicated in 24th May 1970
Redcliffe was the site of the first settlement by white man in the new state of Queensland. The penal settlement was established in 1824, then in 1825 it moved to the site which is now Brisbane.
To commemorate Captain Cook’s bicentenary the secretary of Redcliffe’s Bicentenary Committee wrote to the Chairman of the Whitby UDC to ask if his Council wished to be associated with the celebrations. This request resulted in a stone, weighing 80 lbs, from the ancient ruins of Whitby Abbey, in Yorkshire, England, (built AD 657), being shipped to Australia on the vessel Australian Endeavour.
A further stone, weighing 12 tons, was mounted on a concrete apron next the Whitby Abbey stone.
An autograph book, containing signatures of those attending the official unveiling ceremony was subsequently sent to Whitby.
Inscription:
Bronze plaque on the front of the large Monument stone:
CAPTAIN COOK PARK
Dedicated in honour of
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK RN
Who Sailed Past Moreton Island
In The
ENDEAVOUR
On The 17th May 1770
This Memorial Unveiled By
His Worship The Mayor
ALD.C.E KROLL
MAY 1970
On the stone from Whitby Abbey are carvings made by a mason over 1300 years ago, and the plaque on it reads:
This stone is from the ruins of the ancient Abbey of Whitby, Yorkshire, England
overlooking the old seaport of Whitby
from whence Captain James Cook sailed on his voyage of discovery
GPS Coordinates: Lat -27.223889, Long 153.114722
References:
Cook’s Log, page 852, vol.15, no.3 (1992)
Website: https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/general.aspx?id=133128
Website: www.monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/discovery/display/92316-captain-james-cook