Captain Cook Personally

The family of Captain James Cook

Thornaby, a settlement from the arrival of the Danes in 800 AD is the birthplace of Cook's mother Grace Pace.

On October 10th 1725 she married James Cook, a day farm labourer, who had come south from the banks of the River Tweed in Roxburghshire, Scotland, following the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The centre of Thornaby has moved in recent years and is now part of Stockton-on-Tees. In Stockton parish church there is a memorial to Captain James Cook and an altarpiece made of wood from the Resolution.

Grace and James Cook had eight children. Four died in childhood. Only the second son James and his sisters Margaret and Christiana survived. Margaret married a man named Fleck of Redcar, and Christiana married a fisherman named Cocker of Staithes, where her father James lived with them. [In 1771, after the death of Grace Cook, James Cook senior went to live with his daughter Margaret in Redcar.]

At Marske by the sea, the tower of St Germain's Church overlooks the grave of James Cook senior. Mrs Grace Cook is buried with her five other children at Great Ayton. In addition to his father's roots by the river Tweed, the Tweed was the name of a ship that Cook served on in 1763 (see page 650, Cook's Log), and the name of the sculptor of the Whitby statue.

Brenda Paulding

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 911, volume 16, number 2 (1993).

 

None of Captain Cook's children married and had children of their own.
So there are no descendants of Captain James Cook.
There are many people alive who can claim that they are related to Captain Cook, but they are all descendants of Cook's sister Margaret who married James Fleck.

For more information visit www.CaptainCookFamilyTree.com

  John Cook Born: Ednam, Roxburghshire, Scotland Married: 19 Jan 1693, Ednam Jean Duncan Born: Smailholm
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    James Cook Born: 4 Mar 1694, Ednam? Baptised: 12 Mar 1694, Ednam Died: 1 Apr 1779, Redcar, North Yorkshire Buried: 1 Apr 1779, St Germain's, Marske-by-Sea   Married: 10 Oct 1725, St Peter and St Paul, Stainton in Cleveland   Grace Pace of Thornaby Born: 1702 Died: 15 Feb 1765 Buried: All Saints, Great Ayton
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John Baptised: 10 Jan 1727/8, Ormesby Died: 20 Sep 1749 Buried: Great Ayton James Born: 27 Oct 1728, Marton Baptised: St. Cuthbert's Died: 14 Feb 1779, Hawaii Buried: Hawaii Married: 21 Dec 1762, St Margaret's, Barking, Essex To: Elizabeth Batts Christiana Baptised: 31 Jan 1731/2, Ormesby Died: 1795 Married: Mr. Cocker Mary Baptised: 13 May 1733, Marton Died: 30 Jun 1737, Great Ayton Buried: 1 Jul 1737 Jane Baptised: 21 May 1738 Died: 12 May 1742, Great Ayton Mary Baptised: 7 Dec 1740 Died: 17 Jun 1741, Great Ayton Buried: July 1741 Margaret Baptised: 20 Jul 1742 Buried: 17 Oct 1804 Married: 4 Sep 1764, All Saints, Great Ayton To: James Fleck Born: 14 Feb 1739, Redcar Died: 1817 William Born: 12 Jan 1745 Baptised: 26 Feb 1745 Died: 29 Jan 1748, Great Ayton Buried: 30 Jan 1748
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  Children of James and Elizabeth Cook Children of Mr. and Christiana Cocker       Children of James and Margaret Fleck

 

Children of James and Elizabeth Cook

James Born: 13 Oct 1763, Shadwell, London Baptised: St Pauls, Shadwell Died: 25 Jan 1794 Appointed Jan 1794 Commander of Sloop Spitfire Lost in an open boat, Poole Harbour off Isle of Wight Buried: St-Andrew-the-Great, Cambridge Nathaniel Born: 14 Dec 1764, Mile End Old Town, London Baptised: St Pauls, Shadwell Died: 5 Oct 1780 Midshipman in Thunderer lost with all hands at sea in a hurricane off West Indies Elizabeth Born: 1767 Died 9 Apr 1771 Buried: St. Dunstan’s, Stepney Joseph Born: 26 Aug 1768 Died: 13 Sep 1768 Buried: St. Dunstan’s, Stepney George Born: 8 Jul 1772 Died: 1 Oct 1772 Buried: St. Dunstan’s, Stepney Hugh Born: 23 May 1776 Died: 21 Dec 1793 of scarlet fever whilst a student at Christ College, Cambridge Buried: St-Andrew-the-Great, Cambridge

All the children of Captain Cook died without issue

Children of Mr. and Christiana Cocker

A daughter
Died: Asdown		 A daughter
Married: Mr Tree
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  Ann Tree
Born: 1765
Died: 1867
Married: Wm Rumsey
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  James Rumsey No known children

Children of James and Margaret Fleck

James Baptised: 12 Jun 1765 Died: 1828 Married: 4 Feb 1794, Kirby To: Margaret Rowntree Known children Margaret Baptised: 18 Apr 1767 Died: 15 Dec 1800 Married: 15 Mar 1795, Marske To: Palister Thompson Known children Grace Baptised: 17 June 1770 Married: 21 Aug 1787, Marske To: John Carter Known children Mary Baptised: 21 Aug 1772 Married: 9 Sep 1794, Easington To: George Duck Known children Thomas Henry Baptised: 23 May 1775 Died: 1817, Boston, Lincs. Married: 9 May 1799, Marske To: Hannah Potts Known children William Baptised: 2 Apr 1777 Died: 14 Apr 1777, Marske John Baptised: 9 Mar 1779 Died: 9 Oct 1835 Married 1: 30 Jan 1819, Monkwearmouth To: Isabella Cropton No known children Married 2: To: Isabella Black Known children Christiana Baptised: 31 Jul 1781 Buried: Naval almshouses, Deptford, London Married: Thomas Hustler No known children

 

None of Captain Cook's children married and had children of their own.
So there are no descendants of Captain James Cook.
There are many people alive who can claim that they are related to Captain Cook, but they are all descendants of Cook's sister Margaret who married James Fleck.

For more information visit www.CaptainCookFamilyTree.com

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Previous Comments:
Scott cook
Captain Cook is in my family tree l am on the bottom on the family tree
James Cook the Fourth
I know I'm not related to James Cook, the British explorer, but I think it's cool that I have the same name as him. And yes, my great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and I DO have the same first, middle, and last names.
Judith Hess
I am a descendant of William Harland from Yorkshire. Is there a connection between the Harland family and James Cook?
Dahlia Thompson
Is James related to anyone called Molly Cook, as I am and was wondering if I am related to him
gisselle boisclair
I am related to James Cook I am 11 born in 2012
Cliff Thornton
Kayla, I have had a look at the family trees of James Cook on MyHeritage. Most of them are nearly correct but incorporate incorrect names such as Wade and Hamilton. Two main points in response to your enquiry - none of Captain James Cook's children were called George, and secondly none of Captain Cook's children survived to have children of their own, so there are no direct descendants of the Captain.
Kayla
I am very confused. I come from a long line of Cooks. The my heritage family tree has linked James Cook (the navigator) as my direct descendant. It says that my great grandfather (7 generations) was George Cook from Hammersmith London. He was married to Hannah Frith and his parents were Captain James Cook and Elizabeth Cook. Can anyone help me make sense of this?
Patricia Cooj Simoneaux
Hard for me to believe when my father’s great(s) are Capt. John William, Capt Harvey Cook, and Benjamin Cook. My father’s names is John William Cook named after his great great grandfather. Our tree is in Pedigree Family Tree and 23 and Me…
Cliff Cordiner
There is a memorial in the churchyard of Holy Trinity Seaton Carew where Frances Abia Cooknis buried. She died in 1924. The inscription on the monument says "descendant of Captain James Cook". I have tried to trace her to see how she is related, but cannot find anything. She was a servant of Thomas and Elizabeth Richards but that is all I know. I wondered if anyone had any other information
Cliff Thornton
Cliff, with such an unusual middle name I found it easy to find Frances Abia Cook in some 19th century census returns. You will find her in the return for 1891, living in her home town, Wetherby, North Yorkshire, where she was the housekeeper to Webster Farrington and family. But it is the 1861 census which is of more interest, as it shows her living at home in Wetherby with her parents. Her father was called James Cook! But he was not a captain, he was a tailor. So Frances appears to be another false claimant to descent from THE James Cook, but I suspect that the claim did not do her any harm during her lifetime. I wonder why she was buried at Seaton Carew, as her death was registered in Middlesbrough? Any ideas Cliff?
David Cook Grainger
I was named after my grandfather David Cook on my mother's side of course. My mother came from Ashkirk in Roxburgh. I've check the family tree and got as far back as the birth of David Cook on October 16th 1876 at Linton Mill Parish of Ashkirk Roxburgh. His parents, my great Grand parents, were Charles Cook and his wife Mary Cook nee Thomson. David Cook's birth was registered in October 28 1876 at Ashkirk. Since Capt. Cook's father James Cook also came from Roxburgh, which I just found out, I wonder if I'm related to him an some way. Perhaps James Cook had a brother ? I can't seem to be able to get information beyond my great grand parents. Can anyone help? thanks a lot,
Cliff Thornton
Hello David, thank you for your interesting enquiry. I looked up the Ancestry website to see if anybody had already posted a family tree for your Cook line. There were several trees, but they all stopped at Charles Cook who married Mary Thomson. It looks as if there is a problem tracing the line back further. What I did notice was the different places of birth of Charles Cook's children - James b.1873 at Minto, John b.1875 at Hopkirk, David at Ashkirk and Elizabeth in 1879 at Lilliesleaf. Charles and his family appear to have been very mobile within Roxbroughshire, which may be why people are having a job tracing him. You can see from the above family tree that you can allow 30 years between generations, so you need to trace your line back another three generations and see if there are any links to the Cook family of Ednam. It would be unusual, but not impossible, for James Cook Snr to have been an only child. I would have expected him to have siblings, but despite extensive searches of the Ednam church register, none have been found.
Robert
The last person hung in the Gibert Gibberting, was a James Cook 1830 in England I wonder could that had been an a descendent of Margaret Cooks offspring, childrens children. Just a thought.
Cliff Thornton
Hello Robert, thank you for that intriguing fact about the last person to be gibbetted. I have looked into the family of the James Cook who was hanged for murder in 1832, before his body was put into a gibbet for a couple of weeks. Margaret Cook married a Redcar fisherman named James Fleck, so their children would have had the surname Fleck. The Fleck family has been well researched over the years, and I do not know of any marriage with a Cook line that could have given rise to the Leicester murderer ,James Cook.
Jerry mccallup
My grandfather was Edsel ford Cook not sure if he was related to ford cars or captain cook can u help me ill give u proseeds if its him
Cliff Thornton
Jerry, thank you for your enquiry. I can state with some certainty that Edsel Ford Cook was neither a direct descendant, nor a known relation of Captain James Cook, as none of his children survived to have children of their own.
David Cook
Hi My late father, Wallace Cook, claimed we are decendants of a Thomas Cook that jumped ship in Darwin off the Sirius. He was one of several carpenters on board. He allegedly made his way south due to the oppressive climate and ended up somewhere in NSW. His son was George Cook, a fisherman on the Hawkesbury and my Grandfather. Years back my father, in ignorance seeking familiay link with Capt Cook, sought help with tracking the family linnage only to find the last link found was a Hugh Cook who was a powder monkey on the Golden Hinde. How difficult, or expensive, would it be to track back to Margaret and Mr Fleck? Regards Dave
Cliff Thornton
Dear David, the story of Thomas Cook is a fascinating one, if only it tied in with history. The Sirius, was the flag ship of the First Fleet that arrived in Australia to found the penal colony at Port Jackson. It arrived there in 1788, and was wrecked off Norfolk Island 2 years later. BUT the town of Darwin was not established until the mid-1800s! There is a family tree showing the many lines of descendants from Margaret Cook and James Fleck. You can look at it online at https://www.captaincookfamilytree.com/ I would point out that none of Captain Cook's children survived to marry and have children of their own, so having the surname Cook is unlikely to mean that you are descended from the Captain.
Robert Armstrong
Hello is there any connection between captain James Cook and the Sherwood family of great ayon
Cliff Thornton
Robert, I have checked the family tree for the Cook / Fleck family and it contains nobody with the surname Sherwood. You can check it for yourself at https://www.captaincookfamilytree.com/ If you know of an alleged connection between Cook and the Sherwood family I would be pleased to hear about it.
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