Today we visited the Museum for Captain Cook in Whitby. The tourist season in Whitby closed a couple of weeks ago... as did the museum. As with many of the signs in country towns saying ’closed'... 'closed' does not always mean 'closed'.
We went to the Tourist Information Centre and pleaded our sorry story of how we had travelled all the way from Australia to see our Captain Cook... and our life would cease to have meaning if we could not pay our respects to the great man in his home town. "Well", said Wendy... our new best friend from the tourist information centre, "I can telephone Peter, who has the keys to the museum... he may be able to let you in... but you will have to do all the talking with him... you won't get too far if I do the talking". Peter was putty in the hands of Joye's verbal pleading. "Of course I'll come down and open up for you", said Peter... "Just give me five minutes."
In just five minutes we were receiving Peter's well rehearsed presentation on the life of Captain James Cook. I'm afraid I am going to have to retract some information in yesterday's blog... the holder of the keys to the Captain Cook Museum corrected me when I asked for his confirmation that the Australian government purchased its replica of the Endeavour from Whitby's shipyard. "The replica Endeavour was launched at Fremantle... but on its maiden voyage... it sailed into Whitby harbour to the roars of acclamation from every citizen of Whitby lining the harbour foreshores." I asked if Cook had a hand in selecting Whitby as the shipyard for building all the ships used in Cook's three voyages. "The contract for the building of the Endeavour was settled before Cook was appointed to lead the expedition", said Peter. "Whitby was the centre for building wide bodied cargo boats... and the Admiralty wanted an expedition to last for two years and carry supplies for that period (including live stock)... so Whitby was the natural builder to be approached."
I wasn't doing too well in impressing Peter with my knowledge of Captain Cook... but like a losing gambler I threw the dice once more... trying to redeem my previous losses. I asked if Cook recruited many of his crew from the sailors of Whitby. "No", said Peter, "Recruitment of sailors was conducted in London... and Cook was personally involved in selecting only the senior crew members." I didn't ask Peter any more leading questions after that.
James Cook owes the Quaker religious sect considerable gratitude for getting him started in his career. His father took his family down from Scotland (near Edinburgh) seeking employment. His father settled in a Quaker community... who paid for James to be educated up to the age of seven. Thereafter, he was apprenticed to a Quaker grocer who taught James all his onions.
After some years, James realised that he didn't like onions and asked his father for a different apprenticeship. This was quite a gamble for James... junior apprentices don't get paid... get all the menial tasks... have no status. Nonetheless, in becoming an apprentice to the Quaker John Walker... a merchant ship owner... James landed on his feet. He was housed in the attic of a 3-storey house overlooking the harbour... with half a dozen other lads... and worked as cabin boys on the cargo ships carrying coal from Newcastle to London.
Learning how to sail flat bottomed boats in open water was one of the skills that ultimately resulted in the Admiralty choosing a peasant's son from Whitby to lead the most exciting adventure of the 18th century.
The relationship between merchant ship owner... John Walker... and James became most valuable. For James, friendship with his master resulted in the housekeeper giving James a table and chair for the attic... and a supply of candle wax... so that James could study the books on shipping bought home by Master Walker. In the noisy attic... shared with 6 other boys... by candlelight... James took an interest in navigation.
When France and England found something new to fight about, James offered his services to the Royal Navy... on this occasion, the fight was about French colonies in Newfoundland. Once more James had to retreat to the bottom most rung of the naval hierarchy to secure a position... but because of his extensive experience in merchant shipping... he progressed rapidly through the navy ranks.
While in Canada, he served under a ship's captain who had a modern time piece. You will be familiar with the number of ships wrecked... and the resulting loss of life... caused by sailors' inability to correctly measure 'longitude'... which needs accurate time keeping. Because sailors did not know their correct longitude... their maps were inaccurate... and rocks in the sea kept jumping up in places where they did not belong. This captain had the best time piece in the world... and had developed a 'flat table method' of measuring latitude... so, he had the best equipment and had developed a superior process of making other measurements. Cook immediately saw the importance of this man's innovations and started to apply them with gusto! The mapping made by Cook of the Newfoundland seaboard saved many Canadian lives and are still considered accurate enough for use today. There is a plaque in Whitby from the Canadians expressing their gratitude to Cook. By the time Cook return from his Canadian service, he had the reputation as being the navy's best cartographer.
The rest of Cook's story matches all we learned in primary school. When the eclipse of Venus had to be timed at a location that had been accurately located... "who you gonna call"... a captain who can handle a large flat bottomed boat... a captain who knows his longitude... who could that be other than our own James Cook. There was debate in the Admiralty... concern expressed about the lack of good breeding in the Cook family tree... but the glamour boys of the fleet didn't really want the gig... two years away from the London clubs... going to the southern hemisphere full of savages... and the ship on offer was uglier than an overweight washerwoman! So James got the gig.
The only smart 'blue blood' around was Joseph Banks! He handed over to the Admiralty some serious money to be given room on the Endeavour for himself and his entourage. Banks added scientific credence to the voyage... and made the London community hungry for every bit of information on southern hemisphere discoveries.
I asked Peter... the key keeper... if James had an influential patron who pushed his name forward in the ultra competitive world of naval politics. "No", said Peter, "James advanced on the basis of his raw talent... in being an expert in the areas where the Admiralty needed expertise."
Regarding the death of James Cook in the Hawaiian Islands... Peter the key keeper... would not be drawn on James' state of mind at that time. He acknowledged that Cook died attempting to manage tribal conflict... an area where he had extensive experience... and had shown considerable skill. Peter did point out that some of the diary entries from James immediately before his death indicated a person different from the astute captain making journal entries up until that time.
"We will never know" was Peter's concluding comment.
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