This man must have been one of the most important naval officers associated with Captain James Cook—with a name like John Robson how could he not be!  Since discovering his connection with Cook, I have searched for more information about him, but with little success.  I am hoping that this posting may cause someone who knows something to come forward.

The John Robson who was associated with Cook was born about 1732.  He joined the Navy (probably) in 1740, supposedly serving a year in HMS Canterbury as captain’s servant.  A ship of that name broke up at Plymouth in 1741, and Robson would have been only nine years old, if he had been aboard that ship.  The successor to Canterbury was commissioned in 1745.  By then, Robson was in HMS Weymouth, having joined as captain’s servant in October 1744.  That ship had been recommis­sioned by Captain Warwick Calmady in June 1744, and sailed to the West Indies in November.  However, the ship ran aground, and was lost at Antigua in February 1745.

Robson then served as an able bodied seaman (AB) in HMS Lark for 10 months, and then in HMS Tyger for 12 months.  He spent two more years aboard the sloop Swan as an AB, and then as a midshipman under Commander Dudley Digges.  Part of this time was in the Leeward Islands.  In March 1755, Captain Harry Norris took over command of HMS Yarmouth, a ship in which Robson would spend just under two years as a midshipman, and then as master’s mate.  With seven years of service, and described as being “over 24 years of age”, he passed his lieutenant’s examination in March 1757.

Robson’s connection with Cook began when Robson joined HMS Pembroke as Third Lieutenant on 23 August, 1758.   Cook had joined the ship as master on 27 October, 1757.  After the siege of Louisbourg, Samuel Holland gave instruction in the methods of surveying to Cook and other junior officers.  I believe Robson was one of those also being instructed.  Robson remained as Third Lieutenant until 29 March, 1759, when there was a shuffling of officers following the death of First Lieutenant George Allen.  Robson was still Second Lieutenant when Cook left the ship in September 1759, for HMS Northumberland.  Later, Cook was required to send out instructions to other ships in the squadron, and Robson was often listed as one of the designated recipients.

After a long gap, Robson’s next listed posting was as Second Lieutenant in HMS Ajax in 1770 in the English Channel.  She was a new ship, and had been commissioned by Captain John Carter Allen in May 1770.  Robson then spent a brief spell in HMS Montreal in early 1773 as her First Lieutenant.  Robson moved to HMS Worcester as Second Lieutenant in 1774, under Captain George Curry.  In 1775, Captain Mark Robinson took over command of Worcester, and Robson was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1778.  His last known posting was as First Lieutenant under Captain William Bennett in HMS Lenox in 1779.  She served as a guard ship at Cobh, near Cork in southern Ireland, until March 1783.

Robson then disappeared from the records, and it is not known when or where he died, nor any other details about his personal life. 

Lieutenant’s Certificate for John Robson

He produceth Journals from the Swan sloop and Yarmouth. He produceth Certificates from Captains Norris, Colby and Digges of his diligence, etc. He can splice, knot, reef a sail, etc and is qualified to do the duty of an Able Seaman and Midshipman. Dated at the Navy Office the 10 March 1757.

George Cockburn, Digby Dent, William Feilding

John Robson

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 47, volume 48, number 2 (2025).