Home > Early life and as a merchant seaman (1728-1755)

Early life and as a merchant seaman (1728-1755)

 

1728

Oct. 27 Sun. Born at Marton (N. Riding, Yorkshire), now Cleveland.
Nov. 3 Sun. Baptised at The Parish Church of St. Cuthbert, Marton.

1730-1731

      Family moved to nearby Parish of Ormesby.

1732-1733

      Family returned to Marton.

1736

Nov.-Dec.     Family removed to Aireyholme Farm, Great Ayton.

1737

      Goes to Postgate’s School, Great Ayton.

1745

      Becomes “shop-boy” to Mr. William Sanderson, grocer and haberdasher at Staithes.

1746

      Becomes apprentice to Mr. John Walker, Whitby. Lodges with his master.

1747

Sep. 29 Tue. Servant aboard “Freelove” (collier); Tyne and London.
Dec. 17 Thu. Discharged at Whitby.

1748

Feb. 26 Fri. Servant aboard “Freelove” (collier); Tyne and London.
Apr. 26 Fri. Discharged at Whitby. Works on rigging of new ship “Three Brothers”.
Jun. 14 Tue. Servant aboard “Three Brothers” (horse transport).
Oct. 14 Fri. Returns to Whitby. Sails again, same day, on “Three Brothers” (troop transport) as servant to Liverpool, Dublin and Middleburg (Holland).

1749

Apr. 20 Thu. Returns to Whitby. Sails again, same day, in “Three Brothers”(transport) as Seaman to Norway.
Sep. 26 Tue. Returns to Whitby.
  27 Wed. Sails from Whitby as Seaman in “Three Brothers” (transport).
Dec. 8 Fri. Returns to Whitby. Spends Christmas at Ayton.

1750

Feb. 18 Thu. Sails from Whitby as Seaman in “The Mary of Whitby” (transport) to the Baltic(?).
Oct. 8 Mon. Discharged at London. Makes way to Yorkshire. (May possibly have sailed in “The Hopewell” during this time.)

1751

Feb. 19 Tue. Sails from Whitby as Seaman in “Three Brothers” (transport).
Jul. 30 Tue. Returns to Whitby.
  31 Wed. Sails from Whitby as Seaman in “Friendship” (collier).
Oct. 28 Mon. Discharged at Whitby.
Nov. 21 Thu. Sails from Whitby as Seaman in “Friendship” (collier).

1752

Jan. 7 Fri. Discharged at Whitby.
Mar. 30 Thu. Sails from Whitby as Mate in “Friendship” (collier)
Nov. 10 Fri. Returns to Whitby.

1753

Feb. 2 Fri. Sails from Whitby as Mate in “Friendship” (collier).

1754

Feb. 4 Mon. Returns to Whitby.
Apr. 2 Tue. Sails from Whitby as Mate in “Friendship” (collier).
Jul. 25 Thu. Returns to Shields.
Aug. 9 Tue. Sails from Whitby as Mate in “Friendship” (collier).
Dec. 18 Wed. Returns to Whitby.

1755

Feb. 15 Sat. Sails from Whitby as Mate in “Friendship” (collier).
Jun. 14 Sat. Discharges himself at London.
  17 Tue. Joins Royal Navy at Wapping on H.M.S. Eagle.

Approximate length of voyages

Whitby to Tyne 2 days.
Loading, etc. 7 days.
Tyne to London 7-12 days.
Unloading, etc. 10 days.
London to Tyne 7 days.

 

Updated: August 1997

Sort by:
profile photo
Mayda, At the bottom of this webpage it says "Updated: August 1997", which is how recent the research was.
By Ian Boreham, webmaster on 1/16/2019 8:04:44 PM Like:0 DisLike:0
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
Is this newly revised historical documentation.
By Mayda Delatorre on 1/16/2019 1:26:54 PM Like:0 DisLike:0
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
Wow! This is an incredible website. It helped me a lot! It has great information, and it helped me out a lot! I'm definitely telling my friends.
By Bella Rosemary on 5/23/2018 6:11:09 PM Like:0 DisLike:0
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
Dear Hope, yes the parents of James Cook are known, and an extensive family tree has been compiled. The Cook family tree is available on-line at http://www.winthrop.dk/cooktree.html
As none of Captain Cook's children survived to have children of their own, James Cook has no direct descendants.
By Cliff Thornton on 3/27/2015 8:30:15 AM Like:1 DisLike:1
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
Does anyone know who the parents are to James Cook? I am doing my family tree and happen to coe across this story and I can't help to wonder if he is a relative.
By Hope Millan Cook on 3/25/2015 5:33:31 PM Like:0 DisLike:1
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
just logged on to this site seems, to be very well laid out. I always say to friends and any one who cares to listen, if you want a real hero,forget Cassius Clay,Ronaldo, Messi, Winston Churchill etc; Read captain James Cooks life story and you will change your minds.
By ronnie cowie on 3/8/2015 11:59:09 AM Like:0 DisLike:1
Flag Like DisLike
profile photo
this IS AWESOMW!!!!
New Comment
By Anonymous on 11/22/2012 4:35:22 AM Like:0 DisLike:5
Flag Like DisLike

Unsolicited e-mail warning

It has come to our attention that spam mailers (senders of bulk unsolicited e-mail) have been forging their mail with this domain as the point of origin. As a matter of policy, we do not send out e-mail from our domain name. If you have received an email that appears to be from "@CaptainCookSociety.com" it was forged and sent without our consent, knowledge, or the use of our servers.