Preface

JamesCook250.org is a commemorative website dedicated to the 250th Anniversary of renowned British surveyor, cartographer and explorer James Cook completing his surveys of eastern North America (1758-67) and exploring the Pacific Ocean during three voyages of discovery (1768-79).

Cook was the son of a Scottish farm labourer who was born on November 7, 1728 in the small Yorkshire village of Marton, England.   At the age of 16 he was working as a shop keeper’s apprentice in the nearby fishing village of Staithes where he no doubt felt the lure of the sea.  Within two years he was finding his sea legs aboard a Whitby collier, on a journey to sail “not only farther than any other man has been before me, but as far as I think it possible for man to go.”

Cook’s many accomplishments include “the first scientific, large scale, hydrographic surveys to use precise triangulation to establish land outlines”; significant contributions to the measurement of longitude; the discovery, naming and charting of new lands in the Pacific Ocean; circumnavigation of Antarctica; exploration of the western entrance to the Northwest Passage; improved health and diet of sailors; and laying the foundation of the British Empire in the Pacific.

James Cook Statue near Admiralty Arch, London

Dedication on Cook Statue (click to enlarge)

An unfortunate result of the Age of Discovery was the displacement and loss of indigenous populations, species and habitats from the waves of colonization which followed.  In our own small way, JamesCook250.org would like to dedicate  profits from the sale of Canadian, British, New Zealand, Australian and American buntings to charitable and not for profit projects which promote the legacy of James Cook and/or help encourage reconciliation with native peoples he visited.