James Cook (1728-79) lived in a thatched cottage in Marton Yorkshire during his youngest years. Shortly after, Cook Snr left Aireyholme to become a stonemason and in 1736, they all moved to Ayton. Until young James left Ayton to enter his apprenticeship with a grocer in Staithes in 1745.
Great Ayton Yorkshire
The doorway seems older than the rest of the cottage; it was probably not as originally built. With improved circumstances, the elder Cook enhanced the building. Our James only spent time with his elderly father here in 1771/72, on his return from the Australia voyage.
In 1933, the then-owner of the cottage, Mrs Dixon, put the Yorkshire cottage up for sale and it was suggested that it would make an ideal focus piece for Victoria's centenary in 1934. The prominent Melbourne businessman Sir Russell Grimwade saw an advertisement in the paper and agreed to buy the cottage, to present it as a gift to the Victorian people. However a difficulty arose when Mrs Dixon had stipulated that cottage should remain in Britain. She had rejected offers from wealthy Americans for patriotic reasons, but she was persuaded to agree to Victoria's claim on the cottage as Australia was British. After all, Capt Cook had been in Australia or New Zealand three times between 1768-79. So she accepted an Australian bid of £800, more than the highest local offer
The routes of James Cook's Australasian voyages.
The 1st voyage is shown in red, 2nd voyage in green, 3rd voyage in blue.
As the cottage’s structure had been altered by a succession of owners after the Cook family, its Australian assemblers had to restore the cottage, as best they knew, to its mid C18th appearance. The construction was completed in 6 months and the cottage was formally handed over to our Lord Mayor by Grimwade in Oct 1934.
The cottage had been sold unfurnished, so few of the present contents have any direct connection with Cook. But today’s contents have been carefully selected as original representations of the era. The Ditty Box, a hide-covered wood used by sailors to hold their smaller possessions, has the initials JC and was the personal property of Cook.
![]()
![]()
The cottage was dismantled brick by brick and packed into 253 cases and 40 barrels, together with slips of ivy from the walls to be transplanted in Melbourne. Everything was put on board the Port Dunedin which sailed from Hull in 1934.
When the ship arrived in Apr 1934, a site in the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne was immediately selected, to set the cottage amongst the large European trees. Fitzroy Gardenswere named after Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy (1796-1858), Governor of NSW (1846-51) and Governor-General of the Australian Colonies (1851-55). And Melburnians say that few other capital cities can boast such a significant garden.. so close to the heart of town. The City of Melbourne is responsible to preserve this splendid garden, visited by millions of locals and visitors each year.
When the ship arrived in Apr 1934, a site in the Fitzroy Gardens in Melbourne was immediately selected, to set the cottage amongst the large European trees. Fitzroy Gardenswere named after Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy (1796-1858), Governor of NSW (1846-51) and Governor-General of the Australian Colonies (1851-55). And Melburnians say that few other capital cities can boast such a significant garden.. so close to the heart of town. The City of Melbourne is responsible to preserve this splendid garden, visited by millions of locals and visitors each year.
As the cottage’s structure had been altered by a succession of owners after the Cook family, its Australian assemblers had to restore the cottage, as best they knew, to its mid C18th appearance. The construction was completed in 6 months and the cottage was formally handed over to our Lord Mayor by Grimwade in Oct 1934.
The cottage had been sold unfurnished, so few of the present contents have any direct connection with Cook. But today’s contents have been carefully selected as original representations of the era. The Ditty Box, a hide-covered wood used by sailors to hold their smaller possessions, has the initials JC and was the personal property of Cook.
Captain Cook's Cottage, Melbourne
Sitting in the Fitzroy Gardens (above)
Furnished with 18th century originals (below)
The cottage has since had two restorations. The first was in the late 1950s and again in 1978, when a major effort furnished the building with time-appropriate material and surrounded it with a garden.
A typical mid C18th Yorkshire cottage garden has been recreated, mostly using plants native to Great Britain and Northern Europe. The vegetable garden is also British; the chamomile lawn is composed of one of the oldest herbal plants of English gardens since chamomile tea was medicinally important for many ailments. In Capt Cook's time a water channel formed the garden boundary, so this feature has been faithfully recreated.
The garden and the renovated interior of the cottage were re-opened by Governor-General Zelman Cowan in Oct 1978, on Capt Cook's birthday.
Summary
This is the oldest building in Australia and a popular Melbourne tourist attraction, combining modern interpretations of Capt Cook's adventures, antiques, a lovely English cottage garden with medicinal herbs and remedies, volunteers dressed in C18th costumes and a newly equipped stable. Tickets and souvenirs can be purchased from the Fitzroy Gardens Visitor Centre, and entry to the cottage includes a comprehensive fact sheet for a self-guided tour. The humble home of a national hero… or at least his parents’.
Read The contagious magic of James Cook in Captain-Cook's cottage by Linda Young.