Captain Cook

Captain James Cook FRS RN (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook was the first to map Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand. Read More…

HMS Endeavour

HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand in 1769-71. Launched in 1764 as the collier Earl of Pembroke, she was purchased by the Navy in 1768 for a scientific mission to the Pacific Ocean, and to explore the seas for the postulated Terra Australis Incognita or “unknown southern land”. Read More…

Cook Family History

The saga of the name COOK follows a line reaching back through history to the days of the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain. It is a name for someone who worked as a cook, a seller of cooked meats, or a keeper of an eating-house. The surname COOK is derived from the Old English work coc, which means cook. COOK is an Anglo-Saxon surname which has survived the rigorous course of history to the present day. Emerging from the shadows of time, the records reveal the earliest origins of this distinguished family. Read More…