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#WholeNationHistory - Captain James Cook


Co-founder of Whole Nation Conservatives Miranda Jupp is a longstanding North East Conservative activist and former council candidate. Prior to the 2024 General Election she was Chief of Staff to Sir Simon Clarke.


James Cook was born in the village of Marton, now a suburb of Middlesbrough, in October 1728, the son of a farm hand. By the time of his death in Hawaii in 1779, this remarkable man from humble Teesside origins had changed our understanding of the world: his account of his efforts to prevent his crew succumbing to scurvy was recognised by the Royal Society through the award of the Copley Medal in 1776 and his outstanding skill as a cartographer extended his direct influence well into the 20th century (1). Having written in his diary in 1774 that “Ambition leads me not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go” (2), he led expeditions which mapped New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia with remarkable accuracy, sailed further south than any explorer had previously and became the first man to cross both the Arctic and Antarctic circles.


Cook’s incredible story is a tribute to his skill and focused determination, as well as the recognition of his ability by those in senior positions despite his very humble origins. After his father’s employer paid for his early education at the village school in Great Ayton, Cook was apprenticed to a grocer in the coastal village of Staithes, where he felt the call of the sea. After 18 months, his then employer supported the young man’s desire for a different career path by introducing him to John Walker, a ship owner in Whitby, who took Cook on as an apprentice seaman. Whilst serving on ships transporting coal down the east coast from the North East to London, Cook showed an aptitude for navigation, and whilst he achieved rapid promotion within Walker’s fleet upon completing his apprenticeship, he decided to join the Royal Navy in 1755 after 10 years in the coal trade. Within 2 years. He passed his Master’s Examinations, qualifying him to navigate a royal ship.


Cook’s ability as a cartographer gave him a legacy which reached into the 20th Century. He produced extensive maps of the Newfoundland coastline prior to the Pacific voyages for which he is most famous, during which he produced extraordinarily accurate charts of New Zealand and the Eastern coast of Australia. This mapping wasn’t just influential in Britain: the University of Leiden Special Collections have an excellent blog piece on the reach of his work in the Netherlands (3).


The Pacific Voyages are revealing in terms of the ambition of the British establishment at the time Cook was commissioned in 1768 to observe the upcoming 1769 Transit of Venus from the South Pacific. The expedition was a joint venture involving the Royal Society as well as the Navy. Cook was accompanied on his first voyage by naturalist Joseph Banks, who collected specimens of over 1000 previously unknown plant species during the expedition (You can read Banks’ journal from the expedition online via the state library of New South Wales (4)). The desire for expanding knowledge in different fields and interdisciplinary working laid the foundations for discoveries and developments which shape our world to this day: Banks went on to play a central role in the development of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, and also acted as an advisor to the British Government on the colonisation of Australia. Between this three year expedition and his 2nd voyage (1772-75), Cook’s scrupulous mapping clarified the geography of the South Pacific (including New Zealand, Eastern Australia and multiple islands) with a degree of accuracy which provides the basis for maps of the region today.


Following the achievements of these voyages, Cook’s fame grew: as well as receiving the Copley medal, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and described as “the first navigator in Europe” in the House of Lords. But his personal thirst for knowledge of the world put paid to ideas of retirement and he set sail again in 1776, this time to the North Pacific in search of a navigable northwest passage. Whilst he found no such passage, and ultimately was killed in February 1779 in the Hawaiian islands, he charted much of the North West coast of America with his usual accuracy.


Cook’s story is certainly one which many can take inspiration from: the chance of good basic education followed by a practical grounding through an apprenticeship gave the young Cook chance to develop his talents, with supportive employers along the way enabling this. A meritocratic approach by the Royal Navy gave a man from a very humble background the opportunity to not only gain status and recognition, but also give a huge amount back to his country in terms of knowledge and understanding of the world. Cook’s personal desire to learn more about the world, along with his leadership and technical ability meant he left a mark which has influence centuries after his death.


As Whole Nation Conservatives we should always seek to foster talent, do all we can to allow to maintain the highest possible degree of meritocracy and have the confidence in ourselves and our nation to be ambitious. Cook and others like him were only able to make their mark thanks to the right conditions and we must do all we can to allow the next generation of explorers and innovators to make their own contribution to our national story.


If you want to explore Cook’s story in greater depth, there is a great overview article by Professor Glyn Williams on the BBC website (5). The Captain Cook Society (6) also have a wealth of information on their website. There are also some excellent museums dedicated to Cook, including the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum (Marton, Middlesbrough), the Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum (Great Ayton, North Yorkshire) and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum (Whitby, North Yorkshire) which are all worth a visit!


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