Captain James Cook, RN was an English explorer, navigator and cartographer.
He made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, accurately charting many areas and recording several islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time.
His most notable accomplishments were the British discovery and claiming of the east coast of Australia; the European discovery of the Hawaiian Islands; and the first circumnavigation and mapping of Newfoundland and New Zealand.
The Museum is in an historic building on the harbourside. In 1746 James Cook, then aged seventeen, came to Whitby to be apprenticed to Captain John Walker.
A beautiful 17th century house, this is the sole surviving building which can with certainty be connected to Cook.
Founded in 1985, the Museum opened in 1987 in the historic building in the heart of Whitby where the young Cook served his apprenticeship. In 2001-02 the site expanded to take in the harbourside courtyard and cottage wing.
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