Description:
Gravestone marking the grave of James Cook senior in the churchyard of St Germaine’s Church at Marske, North Yorkshire.
The church was demolished in the 1950s except for the tower, which was left as a navigational aid for shipping.
History:
James Cook, father of Captain James Cook was buried at this spot on 1st April 1779, the grave was left unmarked.
In the Winkies Castle Folk Museum, on the High Street at Marske is an early photo of the grave showing a wooden cross there with the inscription “James Cook 1st April 1779”. The photo was taken around 1900, and indicates that perhaps there was once a headstone there.
Sometime after 1904 a headstone made of local stone, with a white marble plaque and topped by a white marble cross was erected here by the parents of John James Robinson.
The parents of John James Robinson were John James senior and his wife Susannah. John James senior had been an innkeeper in Middlesborough, and had retired to Marske. The couple had had 6 children, 5 of whom had died by 1911. When their son John was lost at sea in 1904, and they had no remains to bury, they chose the grave of James Cook to mark his death.
Blenavon House was named after the place in Wales where Susannah Robinson was born.
Inscription:
SACRED TO THE MEMORY
OF
JOHN JAMES ROBINSON
OF BLENAVON HOUSE
WHO WAS LOST AT SEA 9TH SEPTEMBER 1904
AGED 22 YEARS
THIS STONE WAS ERECTED BY HIS
FATHER AND MOTHER & TO MARK
THE SPOT WHERE JAMES COOK
FATHER OF CAPTAIN COOK R.N.
THE CIRCUM-NAVIGATOR WAS
BURIED APRIL 1ST 1779
GPS Coordinates: 54.591928, -1.019708
References:
Cook’s Log, page 30, vol. 31, no. 3 (2008)
Website: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141355990/james-cook