James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 at Marton-in-Cleveland. His
father, originally from Scotland, was also called James and married Grace Pace from Cleveland. Their
family numbered eight children, though several died young. When James was still a
child, his
father moved to Great Ayton, a few miles away near the Cleveland Hills, and became the foreman on Aireyholme Farm.
Here he received the rudiments of education at the village
school and assisted his
father on the farm. In 1745, he began work in a grocer's shop at Staithes, a fishing village only a short distance from the busy port of Whitby.
After eighteen months, he determined to go to sea, and was introduced to the Walker
family. John Walker and his brother Henry were Quaker ship owners engaged in the coal trade between the North-East and London.
The Quakers, or
Society of Friends, were upright, hospitable
people and known for their simplicity of manners and public spirit.
As the Elders of the Whitby Quakers advised them: "Be temperate and sober. Avoid all Pride and Affectation. Let your Moderation and Prudence appear to all men in speech and communication, in habit and furniture".
The young Cook could not have come to a better environment. The Walkers' ships were workaday 'cats' trading to London and across the North Sea. It was on the 'Freelove' in February 1747, carrying a cargo of coal to London, that Cook was introduced to the life of a sailor.
