COOK CELEBRATIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20024, 14 August 1928, Page 9

COOK CELEBRATIONS.

INTERESTING PROBLEM. QUESTION OF DESCENDANTS. COMMANDER WILD'S ANCESTRY. [FROM OtJR OWN CORRESPONDENT.] HONOLULU. July 20. Commander Frank Wild, second-in-com-mand of the late Sir Ernest Shackleton's South Pole expedition, has been invited, as lineal descendant of Captain Cook, to attend the sesqui-centenary of the discovery of Hawaii, which is to be held in the week following August 15. Commander Wild is farming in Northern Zululand and his cotton plantation is named Quest Estate, after Shaakleton's vessel. He has had a hard time of it, suffering, as lie says, from flood, drought and unnumbered pests. The venture has been a dead loss and at present he is doing railway contract work to "keep the pot boiling." Is Commander Wild a lineal descendant of Captain Cook? In a letter received from him in answer to that question, he writes to the Hawaii Historical Society: "I have always believed that my mother, born Mary Cook, was a direct descendant of the explorer." Not having proofs by him, he communicated with his sister, Mrs. Noi;thwood, living in England, and she has furnished the sesqui-centenary authorities with the following details:— "Captain Cook is our great-great-grand-father. My mother's father was Robert Cook, of Lilling, York. He was the son of Captain Cook's son, who was married at Huntington Church, near York. They had one son, Robert Cook, born in 1791. He married Mary Hutchinson and they had 10 children, of whom the youngest was Mary. She married Benjamin Wild, of whom the eldest son was Frank, now Commander Wild."

Mrs. Norfchwood did not give the name of Captain Cook's son, nor the date of his marriage, which still leaves some doubt with the Hawaiian Historical Society as to the authenticity of the claim. A Tragic Family Record. Wlio was this son of Captain Cook ? The most complete genealogical tree received to date is supplied recently by Mr. Herbert H. Kealev, of Leeds, who is descended from Captain Cook's sister, other descendants being scattered over England, Canada and Australia. This tree shows that Captain Cook married Elizabeth Batts and had six children, of whom the first was James. Two boys died the year they were born. A daughter lived to be five. Nathaniel died at the age of 16 and Hugh at 17 and James was drowned in his 31st year. "Was this James Cook ever married ? The authorities of the British Museum, consulted during the past few months, have declared in writing: "It is certain that Captain Cook' left no descendants." Walter Besant, in his "Life of Cook" (1830), says he got his information about the domestic life of the navigator from Canon Bennett, the last surviving friend of Cook's widow, and states: "There is no living descendant of England's greatest navigator." Kitson's biography makes a similar statement.

The Hawaii Historical Society- has applied to the British authorities, through the consul at Honolulu, for definite information. The society considers it would be a pleasing thing to have a descendant of Captain Cook present at the celebrations. Commander Wild was traced to his last known address at Durban and the letter was forwarded to him in Northern Zululand, bringing a reply, as. quoted above. He says he will be honoured to attend the celebrations in Hawaii.

The president of the society, Bishop Restarick, was recently appointed a committee, to correspond with Miss Marie von Holt, who is in London, on the subject of Captain Cook's family. She is decended from Thomas Brown, or?e of the first planters in Hawaii, who was associated with officers who served with Cook, and their descendants. Miss von Holt has furnished a great deal of information to the society, together with interesting memorabilia from museums and private collections. All these, including photographs of places connected with Captain Cook's career, have been furnished at her own expense. Miss von Holt., after interviewing Commander Wild's sister, Mrs. Northwood, says she fuJly believes her claim that they are direct descendants of Captain Cook. Further Claim of Direct Descent. Another claim of direct descent from Captain Cook has been made to the Historical Society by Miss M. A. Cook, of Pembroke, Ontario, who writes" I am his great-great-granddaughter, My father. William Cook, was born August 1, 1836, and died in Canada, September 24, 1896. His father, Robert Cook, was baptised on November 24, 1790; died May 17, 1881-; buried at Sheriff Hutton, being the son of James Cook, who was drowned January 25, 1794, aged 31. Robert Cook was the only grandson of Captain Cook. "It was the late Sir Ernest Shackleton, of the Quest, who masterly unravelled the case of the marriage of James Cook, the younger, long difficult to trace owing to tho common name of Cook, proving that certain of his signatures, etc., on Admiralty papers and writings in his descendants' possessions, were identical and written by him on the Spitfire and elsewhere between the years 1789 ano 1794.

"Commander Frand Wild is my first., cousin, and, on his return from one of his early Antarctic expeditions, he received a medal from His late King Edward, who especially referred to Wild's kinship with Captain Ccok. Our present King George also mentioned the same subject to my cousin a. few ye«ys later, which gave the other members of the expedition much satisfaction." Two Letters From Yorkshire. Mr. Charles H. Clark, of Yorkshire, has written two letters'to the society, saying the mothers of Commander Wild and himself were sisters. In a general way, he gives the same information as Miss Cook, with some additions. He appears to have known his grandfather, Robert Cook, who died in 1881, lor he writes: —" My grandfather, Robert Cook, believed himself to bo the grandson of Captain Cook. Thero was an old hook with the name, James Cook, written on it. It was given to Sir Ernest Shackleton, and this signature was examined by an expert to see if it agreed with naval documents. " Shackleton would not have supported this claim "if there had been any doubt. ; In his book, 'Heart.of the Antarctic,' he refers to Commander Wild thus:—'His mother was a direct descendant of Captain Cook." lie adds that Commander Wild was received by King Edward and | King George as a descendant of Captain Cook, and was also received as such IU New Zealand and elsewhere."