Virtual Museum

HIS LIFE

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in the village of Marton in Yorkshire and baptised on 3 November in the local church of St. Cuthbert.  His name can be seen in the church register.

He was the second of eight children. His parents were James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer from near Kelso, and Grace Pace, from Thornaby-on-Tees.

In 1736, the family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton. His father's employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school. In 1741, after five years schooling, he began work for his father, who had by now been promoted to farm manager.

For leisure, he would climb a nearby hill, Roseberry Topping, enjoying the opportunity for solitude. Cooks' Cottage, his parents' last home, which he is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having been moved from England and reassembled, brick by brick, in 1934.