Description:
Address - Park & Elizabeth Streets, Hyde Park, Sydney, 2000. NSW.
Large bronze statue of Captain James Cook, holding a chart in his left hand, his right hand upraised.
The figure is 488 cm high.
The statue stands on a huge block of single granite, brought from a quarry at Moruya, over 120 miles away in 1878. The block weighs between 15 and 18 tons.
History:
In 1874 Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales asked the English sculptor Thomas Woolner R.A., to undertake a memorial statue of Captain James Cook.
Erected by public subscription, and supplemented by government grants.
Woolner completed the statue by 1878.
Founded by Cox & Sons at the Thomas Ditton Foundry, England.
Prior to its shipment to Australia it was temporarily erected in Waterloo Place, London.
Unveiled by Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor of NSW, on Tuesday 25th February, 1879, and witnessed by upwards of 70,000 people. The day was observed as a public holiday in celebration of the event.
The procession at the unveiling was the largest ever seen in Sydney
The base was moved by rolling it over and over along the wooden rails of a bush tram line, taking 6 days to cover 3 miles. It was then conveyed to Sydney on the schooner Settler’s Friend. It arrived in 1878.
There is a small silver replica of the statue in the Mitchell Library, Sydney.
Inscription:
Front:
CAPTAIN COOK
THIS STATUE WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
ASSISTED BY A GRANT FROM THE NEW SOUTH WALES
GOVERNMENT 1879
Plaque:
This plaque marks the site of a previous
plaque which disappeared in November 1991
and had the following inscription:
“This tablet was affixed by
The Yorkshire Society of NSW
as their tribute to the memory of
Captain James Cook 1908”
Councillor Frank Sartor Sydney City Council 1991
Lord Mayor
Left Side Inscription:
BORN
AT MARTON IN YORKSHIRE
1728
Rear Inscription:
DISCOVERED THIS TERRITORY
1770
Right Side Inscription:
KILLED AT OWHYHEE
1779
GPS Coordinates: Lat. -33.874194, Long. 151.211917
References:
Cook’s Log, page 481, vol.9, no.4 (1986)
Cook’s Log, page 809, vol.15, no.1 (1992)
Cook’s Log, page 23, vol.28, no.3 (2005)
Cook’s Log, page 32, vol.28, no.4 (2005)
Cook’s Log, page 44, vol.35, no.1 (2012)
Western Daily Press, Tuesday, 18th May 1869. p.3.
Aldershot Military Gazette, Saturday, 1st March 1879. p.3.
Website: http://monumentaustralia.org.au
Image gallery (click to enlarge)