Parish Register for Marriage of James Cook, bachelor of the parish of Shadwell, Middlesex and Elizabeth Batts, spinster of the parish of Barking, Essex, St Margarets, Barking, Essex, England, UK, 21 December 1762.

Memorial Inscription for the Cook family at St Andrew the Great Church, Cambridge.

In Memory

of CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, of the Royal Navy.

one of the most celebrated Navigators, that this

or former Ages can boast of; who was killed by

the Natives of Owyhee, in the Pacific Ocean, on the

14th Day of February, 1779: in the 51st Year of his Age.

Of Mr. NATHANIEL COOK, who was lost with the

Thunderer Man of War. Captain Boyle Walsingham,

in a most dreadful Hurricane, in October, 1780 :

aged 16 Years.

Of Mr. HUGH COOK, of Christs College, Cambridge .

who died on the 21st of December, 1793 : aged 17 Years.

Of JAMES COOK, Esq : Commander in the Royal Navy.

who lost his Life on the 25th of January, 1794 ; in

going from Pool, to the Spitfire Sloop of War, which

he commanded : in the 31st Year of his Age.

Of ELIZᵀᴴ COOK, who died April 9th 1771, Aged 4 Years.

JOSEPH COOK, who died Septᴿ 13th 1768, Aged 1 Month.

GEORGE COOK, who died Octᴿ 1st 1772, Aged 4 Months.

All Children of the first mentioned CAPᴺ. JAMES COOK, by

ELIZABETH COOK, who survived her Husband 56 Years, &

departed this life 13th May 1835, at her residence Clapham Surrey

in the 94th Year of her Age. Her remains are deposited

with those of her Sons JAMES & HUGH

in the middle Aisle of this Church.

Parish Register for Baptism of James Cook and son of James Cook, day labourer, St Cuthberts, Marton, Yorkshire, England, UK, 3 November 1728.

James Cook, Will. Cit. Date: 14 June 1776.

“In the Name of God Amen, I James Cook, Commander of his Majestys Sloop the Resolution, being of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding (praise be to God) do make and publish this my last Will and Testament in the manner following (that is to say)

First, my Will is that all my just debts and Funeral Expences be fully paid and satisfied, and after payment thereof I do hereby give and bequeath to my dear Father Mr James Cook of Redcar in the County of York, for and during his natural Life, one Annuity or clear yearly Sum of Ten Pounds ten Shillings, to be paid and payable to him by my Executrix and Trustees hereinafter named, half yearly in even and equal portions at Michaelmas and Ladyday, the first payment to begin and be made on such of those Feasts which shall first and next happen after my death. And I do charge and make chargeable the whole of my Real and Personal Estate with the payment thereof accordingly.

Also, I give to my dear and loving Wife Elizabeth Cook all my Leasehold Messuages, Tenements and Premises with the Appurtenances wherein I now dwell, situate and being in Mile End Old Town in the County of Middlesex for the term of her natural Life, and after her decease I give the same to all my Children which are borne in my lifetime or in due time after my death, in equal shares and proportions.

Also, I give to each of my Sisters Christiana Cocker and Margaret Fleck, the Sum or Legacy of ten Pounds.

And I give to my good friends Thomas Dyall of Mile End Old Town aforesaid, Gentleman, and Richard Wise of Rumford in the County of Essex, Gentleman, ten Pounds a piece as a mark of the great Regard I have for them.

And as to all the Rest, Residue and Remainder of my real and personal Estates of what nature and kind soever the same shall happen to be at the time of my decease, I give, devise and bequeath one third part thereof unto my said Wife Elizabeth Cook for her own proper use and benefit for ever. And I give, devise and bequeath the remaining two third parts thereof unto my said Wife and unto the said Thomas Dyall and Richard Wise, to hold to them and the survivors and survivor of them his, her or their Executors, Administrators or Assigns, in Trust nevertheless for the use and benefit of all and every my Child and Children, whether born in my Life time or in due time after my decease, in equal shares and proportions, and my Will is that their portion and portions shall be placed out at Interest upon Government or such other Securities as my said Trustees or the survivors or survivor of them shall think fit until such time and times as the same shall become payable as hereinafter is mentioned, that is to say my Will is and I do direct that the portion and portions of such of them as shall be a Son or Sons shall be paid to him or them at his or their age or ages of twenty one years, and of such of them as shall be a Daughter or Daughters upon her or their attaining the age of twenty one years or upon the day or days of her or their marriage or marriages which shall first happen, provided nevertheless such marriage be had with the Consent of my said Wife and not otherwise provided.

Also, I do hereby give full power and authority unto my said Trustees and the survivors or survivor of them, his, her or their Executors and Administrators to apply such part of the portion or portions of my said Children till the same shall become payable in placing him, her or them out Apprentice or Apprentices or otherwise in their Advancement in the World as they in their discretion shall think fit and in the mean time I order and direct that the Interest, Dividends and Produce of their said portions be paid and applied in and towards their maintenance and Education respectively, and my Will is and I do hereby declare that if any or either of my said Children shall happen to die before his, her or their portion or portions shall become payable then the portion or portions of him, her or them so dying, or so much thereof as shall remain unapplied for the purpose aforesaid, shall go to the survivor and survivors of them and shall be paid and payable to him, her or them in such and the same manner as his, her and their original portion or portions is and are made payable as aforesaid.

Also, my Will is that my said Trustees shall not be answerable or accountable for any Loss that may happen in placing out my said Estates as aforesaid or otherwise howsoever, unless such Loss shall be occasioned by or through their wilful default or Neglect, and that they shall not be answerable the one for the other of them, but each of them for his, her and their own act and deed only.

And I do also direct that they shall be indemnified of, from and against all Costs and Damages which they shall sustain by reason or on account of the Trust hereby reposed in them.

And I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my said Wife and the said Thomas Dyall and Richard Wise joint Executrix and Executors of this my Will, and Trustees on behalf of my said Children, and hereby revoking all former Wills I declare this to be my last Will and Testament. In Witness whereof I have to this my last Will and Testament consisting of two Sheets of Paper set my hand to the first Sheet, and my hand and seal to the last Sheet thereof, this fourteenth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy six. Jams. Cook

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the said Testator as and for his last Will and Testament consisting of two Sheets of Paper in the presence of us who at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as Witnesses to the due Execution thereof -Alen Bassett, Clements Inn

Nath. Austen, Joseph Neeld Clks to Mr Bassett.

This Will was proved at London the twenty fourth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty before the Worshipfull Andrew Coltee Ducarel, Doctor of Laws, Surrogate of the Right Worshipful Peter Calvert, Doctor of Laws, Master Keeper or Commissary of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury lawfully constituted by the Oaths of Elizabeth Cook Widow, the Relict of the deceased and Thomas Dyall, two of the Executors named in the said Will to whom Administration of all and singular the Goods, Chattels and Credits of the said deceased was granted having been first sworn duly to administer, power reserved of making the like Grant to Richard Wise the other Executor named in the said Will when he shall apply for the same.

Parish Register for Baptism of Elizabeth Batts and dau of Saml Batts, victualer, and Mary of Execution Dock, Wapping, St John, Wapping, Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, England, UK, 31 January 1741/42.

Death, (Morning Post, 16 May 1935, p.7.). Morning Post, p.7. Cit. Date: 16 May 1835.

Parish Register for Burial of Elizabeth Cook, aged 93., St Andrew the Great, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK, 22 May 1835.

Parish Register for Baptism of James Cook, St Pauls, Shadwell, Middlesex, England, UK, 1 November 1763.

Walter Besant, 1892, Captain Cook, Macmillan & Co, page 188.

(Of Mrs Cook, from December 21st 1793) "Only five weeks later another blow fell upon the hapless woman, already bereaved of husband and five out of her six children. Her eldest son, who had been in the autumn of 1793 promoted to the rank of commander, was, while with his ship at Poole, in Dorsetshire, appointed to the command of the Spitfire sloop of war. On January 24th, 1794 he received from Captain Yeo, commanding officer of the station, his letters and orders to take command without delay. He started immediately in an open boat, manned by sailors returning from leave, to sail from Poole to Portsmouth. It was in the afternoon. His boat was rather crowded : there was a strong ebb tide and a fresh wind ; it was growing dark. This was the last seen of James Cook, the younger.

For he never reached his ship. What happened will never now be known. His body, with a wound on the head and stripped of all his money and valuables, was found on the beach at the back of the Isle of Wight; the boat was also found broken up; but no trace of any of the crew was discovered. Perhaps they drowned. Perhaps they murdered the captain, made for the island, laid his body on the beach, broke up the boat, and dispersed.

The body was brought over to Portsmouth and taken to Cambridge, where it was laid in the same grave with remains of his brother Hugh."

Ibid.

(Of Mrs Cook, from December 21st 1793) "Only five weeks later another blow fell upon the hapless woman, already bereaved of husband and five out of her six children. Her eldest son, who had been in the autumn of 1793 promoted to the rank of commander, was, while with his ship at Poole, in Dorsetshire, appointed to the command of the Spitfire sloop of war. On January 24th, 1794 he received from Captain Yeo, commanding officer of the station, his letters and orders to take command without delay. He started immediately in an open boat, manned by sailors returning from leave, to sail from Poole to Portsmouth. It was in the afternoon. His boat was rather crowded : there was a strong ebb tide and a fresh wind ; it was growing dark. This was the last seen of James Cook, the younger.

For he never reached his ship. What happened will never now be known. His body, with a wound on the head and stripped of all his money and valuables, was found on the beach at the back of the Isle of Wight; the boat was also found broken up; but no trace of any of the crew was discovered. Perhaps they drowned. Perhaps they murdered the captain, made for the island, laid his body on the beach, broke up the boat, and dispersed.

The body was brought over to Portsmouth and taken to Cambridge, where it was laid in the same grave with remains of his brother Hugh."

Parish Register for Baptism of Nathaniel Cook and son of James Cook,mariner, and Elizabeth Cook of Mile End Old Town, St Dunstans, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 8 January 1765.

Walter Besant, 1892, Captain Cook, Macmillan & Co, p.188.

".......Nathaniel, also went into the navy."

"....second son Nathaniel went down on board the Thunderer in a hurricane off Jamaica."

Parish Register for Birth of Elizabeth Cook, aged 8 days and daughter of James, mariner, and Eliz. Cook of Mile End Old Town, St Dunstan, Stepney High Street, Stepney, Middlesex, England, UK, 22 September 1766.

Parish Register for Burial of Elizabeth Cook and of M.E.O.T (Mile End Old Town), St Dunstans, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 14 April 1771.

Parish Register for Baptism of Joseph Cook, aged 19 days and son of James, mariner, and Elizabeth Cook of M.E.O.T., St Dunstans, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 5 September 1768.

Parish Register for Burial of Joseph Cook and of M.E.O.T. (Mile End Old Town), St Dunstans, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 18 September 1768.

Parish Register for Baptism of George Cooke and son of James Cooke, gent, and Elizabeth of M.E.O.T., St Dunstans, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 18 July 1772.

Parish Register for Burial of George Cook and of M.E.O.T (Mile End Old Town), St Dunstan, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 1 November 1772.

Parish Register for Baptism of Hugh Cook, aged 15 days and son of James of M.E.O.T. captain and mariner, and Elizabeth Cook, St Dunstan, Stepney, Greater London, England, UK, 5 June 1776.

Student at Cambridge.

FROM THE CAMBRIDGE ALUMNI. HUGH COOK.'Admitted at College. pens. (age 17) at CHRIST'S, Feb. 15, 1793. S. of James, Captain [the circumnavigator). B. at Mile End, London. School, Merchant Taylors'. 'Matriculation: the formal admission of a student into the University as distinguished from his admission into a College. It occurred in each of the three terms, Lent, Easter, Michaelmas.' Lent, 1793. Died Dec. 21, 1793, aged 17. Buried in the nave of Gt St Andrew's, Cambridge.

'Monumental inscription. [His mother lived at Clapham for 40 years and died May 13, 1835, and was also buried in the same grave in the seventeenth century predecessor of the present St Andrew's, where she had erected a mural tablet to the memory of her renowned husband. The Centenary of Elizabeth Cook's death was celebrated at St Andrew's in May 1935.Cambridge Review, May 10, 1935.)

Parish Register for Burial of Hugh Cook, aged 17, student in Christs College, buried in the church. and son of Capt James Cook, the circumnavigator, St Andrew the Great, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK, 24 December 1793.