White Hat logo
Informed, Intelligent,
Independent
(and occasionally) Irreverent

Treasury Building, Melbourne

Back Home Up Next

You are here:White Hat >> Melbourne >> Tourist Attractions >> Cook's Cottage
 

Melbourne

 

“Just love the White Hat. Keep up the fab work !!!! You're a credit to Melbourne tourism"

Anna
31st August 2009

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter 'Great Things to do in Melbourne - the White Hat guide'

 

Listen to our Monthly Podcast

Submit an event, attraction or venue for listing on these pages

Last minute hotel bookings

The White Hat Guide to Cooks' Cottage

Cooks' Cottage
Fitzroy Gardens
Lansdowne Street,
East Melbourne
Daily 9am - 5pm (5.30pm in summer)
closed Christmas day.
Enquiries: (03) 9419 4677

Take tram 48 or 75
from Flinders Street Station
or free City Circle Tram
and alight at 'Treasury' stop

 

Cooks' Cottage

In 1933 a cottage in Great Ayton, Yorkshire which had belonged to Captain Cook's parents came on the market. This aroused great interest in Australia, and soon Russell Grimwade (a local scientist, businessman and philanthropist) had agreed to purchase it for Victoria and have it transported to Melbourne. After some debate about where the cottage should be rebuilt and for what purpose it should be used, the current location of the Fitzroy Gardens was decided upon. The dismantled cottage arrived in Melbourne in April 1934 and was opened in October that year. Over one of the doorways is the inscription "JGC 1755" (James and Grace Cook - the parents of Captain James Cook).

Did Captain Cook spend his boyhood in that cottage? If the date 1755 indicates the year in which it was built or purchased by his parents then the answer is no. Cook was then aged twenty-seven and had long since left Great Ayrton to become a seaman. If, as is possible, the date indicated the year in which his parents rebuilt the cottage then he may have spent some of his boyhood between the age of eight and seventeen there.

Did Captain Cook know the cottage? Yes - we know he visited his father there in 1772. However the cottage has been modified and practically rebuilt a number of times, and it may be that the beam with the inscription is the only feature dating back to Cook's parents time.

In the end, it doesn't particularly matter whether he lived there or not, It is a tangible reminder of the sort of cottage and humble surroundings from which one of the world's great navigators came, and most Melburnians still refer to it as "Captains Cook's Cottage". It quickly became a favourite with tourists and locals and is one of Melbourne's most visited attractions. It contains numbers of displays associated with the life of Captain James Cook.

Cooks' Cottage
Fitzroy Gardens
Lansdowne Street,  East Melbourne
Daily 9am - 5pm (5.30pm in summer) - closed Christmas day.
Enquiries: (03) 9419 4677
Take tram 48 or 75 from Flinders Street Station
or free City Circle Tram and alight at 'Treasury' stop
Enquiries: (03) 9419 4677

  White Hat  
   
White Hat works hard to make information on these pages current and correct. However with many thousands of entries, much of it changing daily, errors may occur. Always verify the information by using the phone numbers supplied with each event or venue before making a special trip or using this information for any other purpose. If you believe some information is incorrect, please contact us at corrections@whitehat.com.au and we will attempt to verify or change the information
DISCLAIMER: White Hat makes no claim as to the accuracy of this information and takes no responsibility for incorrect or incomplete information  or for actions based on the information in these pages, and accepts no liability to any person or organisation for the information contained in these pages.
Page last updated:
URL:
 
 
Web White Hat

 

DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE NEWS
Building by Melbourne based international architecture firm declared on of UK's top 10 building of the decade

White Hat congratulates Denton Corker Marshall on their Manchester Civil Justice Centre being declared by the prestigious Blueprint magazine as one of the UK's top then buildings of the decade. Australian architects, along with Australia's engineers have an impact on contemporary world architectures and building practices which is disproportionate to this country's population. DCM have offices in Melbourne, Indonesia and the UK and recently won the contract to design the new Stonehenge Visitors Centre.

To subscribe to the White Hat City Design Newsletter click here.

 

Back Home Up Next

White Hat logoThis site designed and maintained by Black Box Company
Comments to Webmaster:  Please ensure that you quote the URL of the page to which you are referring. webmaster@whitehat.com.au

All contents copyright © 1995 - 2011
White Hat, White Hat Tours
All rights reserved.