WOMAN’S TRAGIC LIFE

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1935, Page 7

WOMAN’S TRAGIC LIFE

CIRCUMNAVIGATOR’S WIDOW. DEATH OF ALL HER SONS. The life and voyages of_ Captain James Cook, circumnavigator, whose •name plays such a great part in the early story of , Australia and New Zealand, are so famous that history tells them in every school throughout the country, but few know the tragic life story of his Wife, who was for 56 years a widow, and survived the last of her sons by. 40 years, hiding her loneliness and grief with works of kindness and charity. Mrs. Elizabeth Cook died on May 13,, 1835, 100 years ago this month, in her ninety-fourth year. When her husband was killed at Hawaii .on February 14, 1779, on his third Pacific voyage, the news took a year and eight months to reach the widow. Three of her children died in infancy or childhood, but there were three sons surviving. King George 111., in “recognition of the great services of the explorer, granted her a pension of £2OO per annum, and £25 per year for each of the three sons. In a few-years the three sons were dead. Two lost their lives While serving in the navy, and the .third died at Christ’s College, Cambridge. The last tragedy occurred on January 25, 1794, when Commander James Cook, the eldest son, was lost when attempting to board his ship in a heavy gale of Poole. This last blow overwhelmed Mrs. Cook, and for many months she herself was on the brink of collapse. None of her sons had married, and only her religion gave her strength and comfort during her remaining 40 years. A MEMORIAL. Mrs. Cook placed in the parish church of St. Andrew the Great, Cambridge, a memorial to her husband arid family, and to this day it is kept clean and in repair from a trust fund established by her will. After her death her own name was added to the memorial tablet below those of her childr&n. As recorded on the memorial, her remains rest with those of her sons, James and Hugh, beneath the middle aisle of the church. The grave is marked by a stone bearing the following inscription:— “Mr. Hugh Cook, died 21st. Deer., 1793, aged 17 years. “James Cook, Esq., died 25th Jany., 1794, aged 30 years. “Also Elizabeth Cook, their mother, Obt 13th May, 1835. Aetat 93.” Every year five poor aged women of Cambridge receive assistance from a charity founded by Mrs. Cook under the same trust. ‘ The house in which she lived with her husband and children, at 88, Mile End Road, East London, still stands. Long since converted into a shop, it is marked by a memorial plate placed there by the London County Council. L.C.C.—Captain Cook (1728-1779), Circumnavigator, lived here.” LONELY YEARS.. Her house at Clapham, where she spent most of her forty, lonely years, has also been converted into shops. It bears no tablet, and will probably be pulled down in the near future to make room for modem stores. The contents of the Clapham house were bequeathed to relatives, friends and servants in a will directing that no sale by auction or otherwise of any of the estate or effects was to be held on the premises. Mrs, Cook had lived here in comfort, and died a wealthy woman, leaving no. less than £27,500. The bulk of her fortune was distributed amongst her own relatives and the relatives of her husband, great care being taken that none Was overlooked. ■ There was a cousin to console her, Rear-Admiral Isaac Smith, who, after his retirement from the navy, Jived near by, and for many years they interested themselves in supporting local charities. This' cousin, at the age of fifteen, sailed as a midshipman under Captain Cook on his first voyage. He Was master’s mate on the second voyage. He was not one of the officers employed on the third voyage. Fortunately, from a historical point of view, efforts have been made to collect something of the life stories of Mrs. Cook, and her cousin, Isaac Smith. These records will be sent to Melbourne. _ They are to be acquired and placed in the cottage of the Cook family. The cottage originally stood at Great Ayton, Yorkshire. Last year it was dismantled and shipped to Australia for re-erection in Melbourne.