The Men who sailed with Captain James Cook

Introduction

The men described on these pages are some of the men who sailed with James Cook on his voyages to the Pacific between 1768 and 1780 on the Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure and Discovery plus a few of the men who sailed with him prior to his voyaging to the Pacific. Most works that cover Cook's voyages rarely mention the individuals on board the ships amd even when they are mentioned for sighting an island or being punished no background is provided to explain who they were, where they came from, etc. These pages aim to put a little flesh on the skeletons of those names.

For many of the ordinary seamen it is nearly impossible to establish anything about them. They often did not know their true age, gave false information about where they came from and shared common names like John and William, Smith and Brown. Surprisingly though, quite a few made wills and internet genealogical sites provide entries that seem to fit with what we know from muster rolls. As a result, some of the names now have information attached to them.

Men who became officers are more likely to turn up in various official records and so many of the men listed here became lieutenants or higher ranks.

Various people have helped me in the compilation of this information for which I am very grateful. Ian and Ruth Boreham, and Cliff Thornton from the Captain Cook Society have been especially helpful. I have indicated where other people have helped.

I have also begun a page listing the men who nearly sailed with Cook. These men were either discharged before sailing or ran before serving with Cook.

The pages were begun in January 2007. I would appreciate hearing from anyone with extra information about any of the men associated with James Cook or pointing out errors in the existing material.

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Links to other pages featuring names beginning with the letter:  

Family trees of some of the crew

Return to John Robson's Captain Cook pages.

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