Description
As the oldest building in Australia, Cooks’ Cottage is a Melbourne icon. Before you visit us at the Cottage, 10 facts have been brought out of the archives to educate Melburnians about the wonders of the 18th Century and highlight the importance of Cooks’ Cottage to the City of Melbourne.
Did you know?
- Cooks’ Cottage is more than 250 years old.
- Cooks’ Cottage has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors a year since opening in 1934 in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens, which equates to over 7 million visitors.
- Captain Cook voyaged to nearly every corner of the globe, and tellingly, visitors to Cooks’ Cottage come from as far north as Alaska, Russia and Greenland; as far south as Chile and Argentina; and as far east as China and Korea.
- The top five origins of visitors who come to Cooks’ Cottage each year are: Australia; New Zealand; England; Japan; and China
- The cottage has been built twice. Once in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, England and once in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens.
- Captain Cook’s father was gifted the cottage from Lord Thomas Scotto to encourage his son James (the future Captain Cook) to enlist in the Navy.
- In the 18th century, Cooks’ Cottage would have been considered a lower-middle class home and the Cook family were seen as being lower class, so it was quite an achievement for Cooks’ family.
- Captain Cook’s father built or renovated the cottage in 1755.
- The cottage bears the carving “JGC 1755” above the doorway, which stands for James & Grace Cook (Captain Cook’s parents).
- Melbourne philanthropist Sir Russell Grimwade purchased the cottage as a gift for the people of Victoria to commemorate the centenary of Melbourne.
Keep an eye on this page for new and interesting facts...