Staithes was an important fishing and
smuggling community in the 18th century and during the 19th
century the rise of the alum, jet and ironstone industries
supplemented the local economy. Despite the decline of these
occupations in the late 20th/early 21st centuries Staithes
retains its character as a traditional North Yorkshire fishing
village.
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| Staithes
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This is part of Staithes’s appeal to tourists, linked
with its connections with Cook. Although the shop where Cook
was an apprentice for a short time from 1745, to William Sanderson,
has been washed into the sea some of the materials were used
to build the present house, or Cook’s Shop. A Methodist
chapel has also been developed into the Captain Cook and Staithes
Heritage Centre.
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| Captain Cook’s
Monument, Whitby
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The statue of Cook was presented to the
town of Whitby by the Hon. Sir Gervase Becket, M.P. and unveiled
in 1912. The sculptor John Tweed made the seven feet six inches
high bronze figure of Cook on its freestone pedestal.The inscription
on it reads:“For the lasting Memory of a great Yorkshire
seaman this bronze has been cast, and is left in the keeping
of Whitby; the birthplace of those good ships that bore him
on his enterprises, brought him to glory, and left him at
rest.”The monument can be seen today on Whitby’s
West Cliff.
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| Captain Cook
Memorial Museum, Whitby
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When Cook moved to Whitby in 1746 to become
an apprentice to John Walker he lived at Walker’s house
in Grape Lane when he was not at sea. This house now houses
the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.
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| The Museum has a number of restored 18th century rooms
and reconstructed interiors, including the attic room where
Cook would have lived with the other apprentices, and a
fine Cook collection. The back yard faces onto the harbour
where Walker’s fleet of merchant vessels were moored.
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The Blue Room
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This reconstructed room in the Captain
Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby, shows a typical merchant’s
room in the mid-18th century. The Walker family, to whom
Cook was apprenticed, were wealthy ship owners and the furnishings
in their house in Grape Lane would have reflected this wealth
and their tastes.
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Cook’s letter
to Walker
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Cook worked well for John Walker and soon
gained promotion. When Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755
his former employer wrote letters of recommendation. Cook
never forgot Walker’s support and encouragement and
wrote to and visited his friend on his rare visits to see
his family in the North East of England. This letter, in
the collection of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby,
was sent by Cook to Walker after his first voyage (1768-71).
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