Tuesday 21 February 2012

COOK'S COTTAGE, MELBOURNE

Cooks' Cottage is located in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Australia. The cottage was constructed in 1755 in the English village of Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, by the parents of Captain James Cook, James and Grace Cook. It is a point of conjecture among historians whether James Cook, the famous navigator, ever lived in the house, but almost certainly he visited his parents at the house.

In 1933 the owner of the cottage decided to sell it with a condition of sale that the building remain in England. She was persuaded to change "England" to "the Empire", and accepted an Australian bid of £800, by Russell Grimwade as opposed to the highest local offer of £300. The cottage was deconstructed brick by brick and packed into 253 cases and 40 barrels, for shipping on board the Port Dunedin from Hull.

Cuttings from ivy that adorned the house were also taken and planted when the house was re-erected in Melbourne. Grimwade, a notable businessman and philanthropist, donated the house to the people of Victoria for the centenary anniversary of the settlement of Melbourne in October 1934. The cottage immediately became a popular tourist attraction. In 1978 further restoration work was carried out on the cottage. An English cottage garden has been established around the house, further adding to its period reconstruction. Very few of the items in the house are from the Cook family, but all are representative furnishings of the period.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme.


Front view of the Cottage. A souvenir shop is located in the front single storey part of the house 
Back view of the Cottage with its delightful cottage garden
The kitchen/living room with its period furniture and implements
The main bedroom upstairs. One cannot be but impressed with how compact and small everything seems

Portrait of Captain Cook and a model of the "Endeavour", his most famous ship used in his exploration journeys
Back garden and a statue of Cook
Traditional plants popular in 18th century English gardens have been planted in the back yard. Here is a delightful hollyhock
The Fitzroy Gardens is a delightful setting for the cottage

17 comments:

  1. Wonderful. I've seen this but never been inside.

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  2. What a beautiful home!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  3. This is fantastic, Nick! Such a beautiful home and how wonderful that it has been preserved so perfectly! Your captures are superb as always! Hope your week is going well!

    Sylvia

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  4. Thank's for taking us on the tour -- it is a beautiful cottage. We love to tour places like this -- such a fun way to learn history. (And doesn't seem too compact to me -- we live in compact house.)

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  5. I also like places like this. It's fun to see what life was like back then. Makes us appreciate our modern conveniences. :)

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  6. What a beautiful cottage and garden!
    Thanks for the tour!
    Great shots.
    Greetings Mette

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  7. It appears to be kept in wonderful condotion and I love the grounds as well as the building.

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  8. Thanks for taking us on this delightful tour:) Don't forget, people in previous centuries were shorter and smaller.

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  9. I also like to visit these types of places. The garden is pretty and the cottage is well kept.

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  10. A piece of history recorded for us, readers. Thanks Nick. I could learn a little more about capt.Cook. A lovely place to be remembered.

    In India too, we preserve the house used by Mahatma Gandhi, Father of our Nation. But it is very simple and sparsely furnished, on the river bank of Sabarmati.

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  11. That's a wonderful looking place.

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  12. This brick house makes a time machine to Cook period.I love both the house and its beautiful English garden, Nick.

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  13. I love the Fitzroy Gardens. We are fortunate to have such green expanses so close to the CBD. Hard to imagine that the cottage was deconstructed, shipped halfway across the globe and rebuilt here in Melbourne. I still remember being amazed how small the doorways are from my childhood visits to Cook's Cottage. People must have been so small in centuries passed.

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  14. Lovely post Nick.
    I had no idea that they shipped entire houses over.
    The captain must have been used to tight quarters after living shipbound for so long :-)

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    Replies
    1. Floral Friday?
      Ah, you've forgotten me already :-)

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  15. It does look a little ... cosy. But that would make it a lot easier to keep warm and light.

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  16. beautiful Photos! thanks for sharing Joann

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