CAPTAIN JAMES COOK by Ciaran

							           CAPTAIN JAMES COOK                   by Ciaran

James Cook was born in the village of Marton, Yorkshire in
October, 1728. He was one of seven children born to a day
labourer. Cook received basic schooling at the village school and
was then sent to William Sanders in the nearby fishing village of
Staithes. Here Cook developed a love and fascination for the sea.
He worked hard for his voyage aboard Whitby collier Freelove.
The coal ships or colliers were of sturdy construction, strong
sailing abilities and could handle a great deal of cargo. While Cook
was at Whitby he educated himself a great deal in navigation and
mathematics. By 1755, after nine years, and much service as ships
master, Cook left his ship and enlisted for the Royal Navy as an
ordinary soldier. He boarded the Eagle, a 60 gun ship, and was sent
to the North American Coast. James Cook worked his way up
through the ranks quickly in the navy, eventually rising high
enough to command his own survey vessel. Cook’s first mission
was to map the estuary of the St. Lawrence River before Wolfe’s
naval assault on Quebec. Later he surveyed the coast of
Newfoundland. It was of those surveys that established Cook’s
name, along with information he carefully obtained from observing
and recording of the eclipse of the sun in 1766. Cook was
rewarded for his work in Quebec in 1761; he received a bonus of
50 pounds, for indefatigable industry in making himself the master
of the pilotage. The surveys were so accurate and complete that
they were in use until the beginning the Twentieth Century.