DECENDANT OF COOK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18223, 17 October 1922, Page 10

DECENDANT OF COOK.

Sir,—A copy of the Herald of the 28t,h nit. bsa b:en sent me by a friend, and in it I see yuu have published tt>y letter to thr Sydney Morning Herald, -which seems to have caused " pained surprise " to the relatives of the late Mr. William Cook. 1 .egret this, as I had no intention of giving pain, but as Captain James Cook's family matters have been public property for over 100 years, and have been cor. mented on by biographers and historians ever since his decease, 1 think my letter is only fair comment. In Great Ayton churchyard James Cook,, the navigator s father, erected a headstone on his wife's grave, when she died in 1765, ana cut the inscription with his own hand, wo are told, on one side of the stone, and on the other side the names of three girls, and a hoy named Williarr- who all died in infancy, and a son, John, who died September 20, 1750, aged 23 years. No descendants of any son of this James Cook can traced, and if the friends of the late William Cook, of Avondale, will give prpof of his relationship the v " will confer a favour which historians will appreciate, as also will James H. Watson, Honorary Research Secretary Royal Australian Historical Society. Sydney, October 4.