Mrs Cook was a great accumulator of objects, her house in Clapham ‘crowded and crammed in every room with relics, curiosities, drawings, maps and collections’ as Canon Frederick Bennett, son of John Leach Bennett, executor and residuary legatee of Mrs Cook’s will, remarked. Frederick was twelve years old at the time of her death.
It seemed in character to structure her story thus. More generally, we reconstruct the past through the artefacts left behind.
The Frost Fair Print
The print described bears the name Mr Edward Hurley, and was ‘Printed on the river of Thames when Frozen over, January 18, 1739 (from Nichola Johnson, Eighteenth Century London, Museum of London, 1991, page 42).
The Quill
The method of making a quill pen, pupils with marks against their names, spelling and arithmetical problems from Dan O’Sullivan, The Education of Captain Cook, Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum booklet, Great Ayton, England.
The Bell Alehouse
The building was probably redeveloped during the early nineteenth century, in common with the rest of Wapping, where the expansion of trade resulted in a demand for warehouses. That warehouse has been subsequently demolished and the site stands empty, being used for car parking.
The Great Tree
A cedar of Lebanon flourishes near the site of James Cook’s birth. It may have been there during his time but more likely was planted by Henry Bolckow when he bought the Marton estate in 1858.
A Box of Letter Tiles
A popular eighteenth century educational toy.
John Walker’s House
Now a museum dedicated to Cook. A little poetic licence has been taken here, as Walker did not move to this house till after James had finished his apprenticeship.
Execution Dock Stairs
This is the old name for King George Stairs, the set of steps closest to where the Bell alehouse once stood.
The Fan of Time
The fan as a fashion accessory reached its height of popularity in the eighteenth century. They were made of silk, paper, chicken-skin parchment and other materials. England adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. For practical purposes almanacs were used. The Book of Common Prayer contains a church calendar with a table of lessons.
The Porcelain Teapot
National Maritime Museum, London. Mrs Cook’s teapot is c.1750, from the Ch’ien Lung Period. Tea, silks and porcelain were the main imports from China to Britain.
The Oriental Box
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. It is said to have been Cook’s first present to Elizabeth.
The Marriage Certificate
National Library of Australia, Canberra.
A Plan of St John’s
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Measurements: 20 x 26 cm. Original ink MS, hand coloured, showing soundings, sand banks, coastline, buildings, wharf, batteries.
The Telescopic Quadrant
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
The Endeavour
The Endeavour became a transport which during the American War of Independence was deliberately sunk, along with other ships, to protect the harbour at Newport, Rhode Island. Marine archaeologist, Dr Kathy Abbass, heads a team currently trying to locate it.
The Folding Table
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. An elegant piece of furniture used by Captain Cook during his three voyages. Mrs Cook bequeathed it to her servant, Charles Doswell, who married Sarah Westlake, another of Mrs Cook’s servants.
The Book of Common Prayer
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Frances (nee Wardale) Lieber took the Book of Common Prayer to America with her. She married John McAllister on 28 August 1783. The inscription on the flyleaf reads: ‘presented by Capt. James Cook to Frances Wardale in the year 1769’ (an error here? In 1769 Cook was already in the South Seas).
The Telescope
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Bingley’s Journal
The quote is from JC Beaglehole, The Life of Captain Cook, Stanford University Press, 1974, Stanford, California, page 269.
Portrait of Sir Hugh Palliser by George Dance
National Maritime Museum, London.
A Pair of Shoe Buckles
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Diamanté-covered buckles used for court wear, as opposed to leather-covered ones for everyday wear, also in the State Library.
A Damask Serviette
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Measurements: c. 72 x 84.5 cm. Described as a tablecloth in the Dixson Library Realia Collection, but according to staff member Margot Riley is probably a large serviette, the reasoning being that it is too small even for a teacloth of the period, but big enough to cover the large skirts worn by the women. The embroidery ‘EC’ with a number ‘9’ centred below the initials is in very fine cross-stitch in blue/grey thread in one corner. The cloth was number 9 in a set.
Cook Cottage
Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne. Purchased in 1933 by Victorian businessman Mr (later Sir) Russell Grimwade and donated to the state. The bricks of the cottage, along with slips of ivy from the walls, were shipped to Melbourne from Hull, in 253 cases and 40 barrels.
Mr Kendall’s Clock
National Maritime Museum, London.
The Glass Tumbler
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Engraved: RESOLUTION, Capt. Cook, 1772.
The Staffordshire China
Captain Cook Schoolhouse Museum, Great Ayton, England. Blue and white china was fashionable during the period. Three plates and a dish from the service are on display.
A Letter from Solander to Banks
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Introduction to a Voyage towards the South Pole and Round the World . . .
Copies in several libraries including the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Boswell’s An Account of Corsica
The journal of a tour of that island, and memoirs of Pascal Paoli, 3rd edition, E & C Dilly, London, 1769. State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Boswell’s presentation copy to Captain Cook has the signature, ‘J. Cook’ on the back of the frontispiece.
The Portrait of Captain Cook by Nathaniel Dance
National Maritime Museum, London.
The Will of James Cook
The original is in the Public Records Office, London. The will was proved 24 January 1780 by Elizabeth Cook and Thomas Dyall.
The Copley Medal
British Museum, London.
The Unfinished Vest
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Of tapa cloth, embroidered by Elizabeth Cook for her husband to wear to court, had he returned from the third voyage.
The Ditty Box
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney. Ditty boxes were used by seamen to hold their smaller possessions.
Sir Hugh Palliser’s Monument to Captain Cook
The monument is in Vache Park, Buckinghamshire; copies of the inscription are held in the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
A Letter from Elizabeth Cook to Frances McAllister (nee Wardale)
Copies are held in the National Library of Australia, Canberra, and the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
A Letter from Mrs Honeychurch to Frances McAllister
Copies are held in the National Library of Australia, Canberra, and the State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Embroidery on Silk of Captain Cook’s Voyages by Mrs Elizabeth Cook
National Maritime Museum, Sydney.
The Bookplate
State Library of New SouthWales, Sydney. The Bible was printed by M. Baskett, Oxford, 1765. On Elizabeth’s death it passed to John Leach Bennett of Merton, Surrey. The bookplate bears the coat of arms and the name Cpt. Cook.
Portrait of Elizabeth Cook
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
A Letter from Isaac Smith to Edward Hawke Locker
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
Elizabeth Cook’s Monuments
The monument to her Smith relatives is in St Mary’s Church, Merton, London.
Most of the other objects mentioned in the text are also in library or museum collections.
All the churches are still in existence in one form or another. Another St John’s was built close by the original which suffered subsidence because of the marshy ground. Great St Andrew’s is now a community church.
On 27 February 1971 the Elizabeth Cook Memorial Fountain was switched on in the EG Waterhouse Gardens, Sutherland Shire, Sydney. It is believed to be the only memorial dedicated solely to Elizabeth Cook. The fountain feeds a waterfall edged with tree ferns, ivy growing up the trunks of some. Near the memorial plaque itself grows a strelitzia—bird of paradise.
Elizabeth Cook’s image also graces a matchbox label, one of a set of forty-two issued by the Federal Match Company, Australia, in 1970 to mark the bicentenary of Cook’s landing at Botany Bay.