Guide to the Journals of Captain James Cook (as filmed by the AJCP), 1770-1784

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Summary

Collection number:

M1580-M1582

Creator:

Cook, James, Captain, 1728-1779

Extent:

8 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Journals and logs kept by Cook on his three voyages to the Pacific on HMS Endeavour and HMS Resolution, together with notes by Joseph Gilbert, William Wales and Henry Roberts.

Biographical / Historical:

James Cook (1728-1779) was born at Merton, Yorkshire and grew up on a farm at Ayton. In 1747 he moved to Whitby and joined the merchant navy, working on colliers and other ships in the coastal trade and later in the Baltic Sea. In 1755 he joined the Royal Navy and in 1757 he qualified as a master. He served in North America during the Seven Years War, taking part in the capture of Louisburg and Quebec, and as master of HMS Grenville he spent five years surveying the coasts of Newfoundland.

In 1768 Cook was promoted to lieutenant and given command of HMS Endeavour on its voyage to the South Pacific. After visiting Tahiti and observing the transit of Venus (the ostensible purpose of the expedition), Cook mapped the entire coasts of New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia. He returned to England in July 1771 and was immediately promoted to the rank of captain. In 1772 he was commissioned by the Royal Society to search for a southern continent that many believed lay in the high latitudes of the South Pacific. HMS Resolution, accompanied by HMS Adventure, spent nearly three years exploring the extreme latitudes of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, twice crossing the Antarctic Circle. Using bases in New Zealand and Tahiti, Cook also explored much of the South Pacific, including the Friendly Islands (Tonga), Easter Island, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island. In July 1776 Cook, again commanding HMS Resolution, set off on his third great voyage with the aim of exploring the North Pacific and discovering the North West Passage. He discovered the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and explored the north-western coast of America as far as the Bering Strait. Returning to the Sandwich Islands, he was killed in a skirmish with the Hawaiians in February 1779.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the British Library. For more information visit: How I use the images I order?-The British Library [https://www.bl.uk/help/how-can-i-use-the-images-i-order].