Person    | Male  Born 7/11/1728  Died 14/2/1779

Captain James Cook

Maritime explorer and cartographer. Born near Middlesbrough. The first to map Newfoundland, explored around Australia and the Hawaiian Islands and made the first circumnavigation of New Zealand.

Killed in Kealakekua Bay by Hawaiian villagers during a fracas concerning the theft of one of Cook's small boats. Cook was held in high esteem by the chiefs so his body was given the same funeral rites that one of their elders would have received. It was disembowelled, baked and the bones cleaned. Following appeals from his comrades the remains were eventually returned for burial at sea.

2024: Cook has become a controversial figure, representing all the worst of imperialism. The Daily Mail reported "Captain Cook statue is sawn down in Melbourne with the words 'the colony will fall' sprayed in red on the plinth just hours before Australia Day".

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Captain James Cook

Commemorated ati

Barking Abbey

Barking Abbey Was founded by St Erkenwald in the year 666. Destroyed by the D...

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Captain Cook - E1

{Left-most panel:} He surveyed the St Lawrence River in 1759. In three voyag...

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Captain Cook - E1 plaque - gone

This terracotta-coloured plaque is now in Australia (see eHive) with one of t...

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Captain Cook - The Highway

The plaque gives Cook's address as 126 Upper Shadwell. Horward's 1799 map gi...

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Captain James Cook statue

The original inscription stopped after "New Zealand." In 1928 the British Em...

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Show all 9

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George Thompson

George Thompson

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1 memorial
William Clossan

William Clossan

Role on the lost expedition: Able seaman on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
Thomas Johnson

Thomas Johnson

Role on the lost expedition: Petty officer on SS Terror. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
John Sullivan

John Sullivan

Role on the lost expedition: Petty officer on SS Erebus. See John Franklin.

Person, Exploring, Tragedy

1 memorial
Reuben Male

Reuben Male

Role on the lost expedition: Petty officer on SS Terror. See John Franklin.

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1 memorial

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1 memorial
London's Burning!

London's Burning!

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The etching seems to be of late 17th century date but, like Discovering London, we cannot find it on the web so cannot name the artist. ...

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Trooper Alexander Swan Jones

Trooper Alexander Swan Jones

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1 memorial
Sir Michael Kerr

Sir Michael Kerr

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Person, Law, Politics & Administration

1 memorial