In 1755 Cook joined the Royal
Navy as an able seaman aboard the ship “Eagle”
and saw active service in the English Channel and Atlantic.
By 1757 Cook had passed his master’s examination and
was assigned first to HMS Solebay and then HMS Pembroke where
his talents were noticed by the captain.
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Halifax
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Early in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) against
France, Halifax, Nova Scotia, was the main British base in
Canada. Cook sailed with the fleet to Canada, arriving in
Halifax in May 1758. There he took part in the blockade of
Louisbourg, which the French finally surrendered in July 1758,
and was taught how to survey and make charts by Samuel Holland,
an army surveyor-engineer.
Cook spent the next few winters and the whole
of 1761 in Halifax where he made charts of the town and harbour.
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South Channel
of Orleans, Quebec
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Following the fall of Louisbourg the British
wintered in Halifax but in May 1759 set off up the St. Lawrence
River to capture the main French stronghold of Quebec. Cook’s
ship assisted with the ferrying of troops and the charting
of the St.Lawrence River in preparation for the assault on
Quebec. The town fell to the British in September 1759 after
an assault by the army of General Wolfe.
Cook’s talents as a surveyor and mapmaker had come
to the notice of Admiral Saunders and he was transferred to
the 70-gun ship Northumberland that remained in Canada as
part of a small detachment for the next two years. Saunders,
with the main fleet, returned to Britain where he arranged
for Cook’s charts to be published.
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In mid-1762 the French
turned their attention to Newfoundland and the important
cod fisheries there. Cook started to survey the south east
coastal areas of Newfoundland, a task he continued with
for the next five years.
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Purse made
from
Mrs. Cook's wedding dress
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In October 1762 Cook returned to England and
married Elizabeth Batts in Barking. Elizabeth lived at ‘The
Bell’ public house, Wapping, before she married and
probably met Cook there on one of his many visits to London.
The couple first lived in Shadwell but soon moved to Mile
End in 1763. They had five sons and one daughter, the first,
James, being born in 1763.
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Plan of the
Harbour of St.Peters
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In July 1762 the French attacked the important
British cod fishing bases in south east Newfoundland but
the British quickly took these back. By the Treaty of Paris
in 1763 France retained small areas in south Newfoundland
but gave up other claims to Canada. Realising the importance
of having accurate charts of the coast, the Governor of
Newfoundland commissioned Cook and others to produce them.
For the next five years Cook surveyed the coast of Newfoundland
during the summer periods, returning to Britain for the
winters. In 1762-63 Cook surveyed the coast of Placentia,
south east Newfoundland; 1763-64 north Newfoundland; 1765
south Newfoundland; 1766 southwest Newfoundland; and 1767
west Newfoundland. Cook returned to London in November 1767.
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