The family of Captain James Cook

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Cliff Cordiner
There is a memorial in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Seaton Carew where Frances Abia Cooknis buried. She died in 1924. The inscription on the monument says "descendant of Captain James Cook". I have tried to trace her to see how she is related, but cannot find anything. She was a servant of Thomas and Elizabeth Richards but that is all I know. I wondered if anyone had any other information
Cliff Thornton
Cliff, with such an unusual middle name I found it easy to find Frances Abia Cook in some 19th century census returns. You will find her in the return for 1891, living in her home town, Wetherby, North Yorkshire, where she was the housekeeper to Webster Farrington and family. But it is the 1861 census which is of more interest, as it shows her living at home in Wetherby with her parents. Her father was called James Cook! But he was not a captain, he was a tailor. So Frances appears to be another false claimant to descent from THE James Cook, but I suspect that the claim did not do her any harm during her lifetime. I wonder why she was buried at Seaton Carew, as her death was registered in Middlesbrough? Any ideas Cliff?
David Cook Grainger
I was named after my grandfather David Cook on my mother's side of course. My mother came from Ashkirk in Roxburgh. I've check the family tree and got as far back as the birth of David Cook on October 16th 1876 at Linton Mill Parish of Ashkirk Roxburgh. His parents, my great Grand parents, were Charles Cook and his wife Mary Cook nee Thomson. David Cook's birth was registered in October 28 1876 at Ashkirk. Since Capt. Cook's father James Cook also came from Roxburgh, which I just found out, I wonder if I'm related to him an some way. Perhaps James Cook had a brother ? I can't seem to be able to get information beyond my great grand parents. Can anyone help? thanks a lot,
Cliff Thornton
Hello David, thank you for your interesting enquiry. I looked up the Ancestry website to see if anybody had already posted a family tree for your Cook line. There were several trees, but they all stopped at Charles Cook who married Mary Thomson. It looks as if there is a problem tracing the line back further. What I did notice was the different places of birth of Charles Cook's children - James b.1873 at Minto, John b.1875 at Hopkirk, David at Ashkirk and Elizabeth in 1879 at Lilliesleaf. Charles and his family appear to have been very mobile within Roxbroughshire, which may be why people are having a job tracing him. You can see from the above family tree that you can allow 30 years between generations, so you need to trace your line back another three generations and see if there are any links to the Cook family of Ednam. It would be unusual, but not impossible, for James Cook Snr to have been an only child. I would have expected him to have siblings, but despite extensive searches of the Ednam church register, none have been found.
Robert
The last person hung in the Gibert Gibberting, was a James Cook 1830 in England I wonder could that had been an a descendent of Margaret Cooks offspring, childrens children. Just a thought.
Cliff Thornton
Hello Robert, thank you for that intriguing fact about the last person to be gibbetted. I have looked into the family of the James Cook who was hanged for murder in 1832, before his body was put into a gibbet for a couple of weeks. Margaret Cook married a Redcar fisherman named James Fleck, so their children would have had the surname Fleck. The Fleck family has been well researched over the years, and I do not know of any marriage with a Cook line that could have given rise to the Leicester murderer ,James Cook.
Jerry mccallup
My grandfather was Edsel ford Cook not sure if he was related to ford cars or captain cook can u help me ill give u proseeds if its him
Cliff Thornton
Jerry, thank you for your enquiry. I can state with some certainty that Edsel Ford Cook was neither a direct descendant, nor a known relation of Captain James Cook, as none of his children survived to have children of their own.
David Cook
Hi My late father, Wallace Cook, claimed we are decendants of a Thomas Cook that jumped ship in Darwin off the Sirius. He was one of several carpenters on board. He allegedly made his way south due to the oppressive climate and ended up somewhere in NSW. His son was George Cook, a fisherman on the Hawkesbury and my Grandfather. Years back my father, in ignorance seeking familiay link with Capt Cook, sought help with tracking the family linnage only to find the last link found was a Hugh Cook who was a powder monkey on the Golden Hinde. How difficult, or expensive, would it be to track back to Margaret and Mr Fleck? Regards Dave
Cliff Thornton
Dear David, the story of Thomas Cook is a fascinating one, if only it tied in with history. The Sirius, was the flag ship of the First Fleet that arrived in Australia to found the penal colony at Port Jackson. It arrived there in 1788, and was wrecked off Norfolk Island 2 years later. BUT the town of Darwin was not established until the mid-1800s! There is a family tree showing the many lines of descendants from Margaret Cook and James Fleck. You can look at it online at https://www.captaincookfamilytree.com/ I would point out that none of Captain Cook's children survived to marry and have children of their own, so having the surname Cook is unlikely to mean that you are descended from the Captain.
Robert Armstrong
Hello is there any connection between captain James Cook and the Sherwood family of great ayon
Cliff Thornton
Robert, I have checked the family tree for the Cook / Fleck family and it contains nobody with the surname Sherwood. You can check it for yourself at https://www.captaincookfamilytree.com/ If you know of an alleged connection between Cook and the Sherwood family I would be pleased to hear about it.