The son of a Scottish agriculture labourer and a Yorkshire woman, Cook was unquestionably taught some important and valuable lessons, early in life. As a young man he quickly gained much valuable experience as a ship handler: he made his early living as a deck hand on various Whitby colliers which plied the waters on the east coast of England between the coalfields of Yorkshire and the London market.

In 1757, with The Seven Years War coming on, the 29 year old Cook, joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman. By June of 1757 Cook had "passed his Master's examinations and became qualified for that most responsible of naval posts, the navigation and handling of a royal ship." (DCB.)

It will be seen by my history that powerful British forces were gathering, once again, off the coast of Nova Scotia during the spring of 1758. Among the warships of the fleet was the 60 gun H.M.S. Pembroke; her master was James Cook.1 The invasion fleets of the years 1757 (aborted) and 1758 (successful against Louisbourg) consisted of war ships, siege supplies and multitudes of military men: all contained in hundreds of sailing vessels (must have been a marvelous sight as they gathered in Halifax harbour). At least part of the English fleet wintered over at Halifax during these last decisive years of the sea war.2

Cook's industriousness and his inventiveness is what we see when we read the history of British exploration in the Pacific. What might be said of his industriousness and his inventiveness is that it was bred into him in Yorkshire, practised at Halifax during the winters of 1757 and 1758, and displayed in full blossom as Cook opened up the Pacific to the British navy, likely years before its time.

One need only look at the record and see what Sir Charles Hardy had to say when he and his fleet of 10 warships came back into Halifax harbour on March 19th, 1758. He finds the squadron that had "wintered at Halifax in a great state of forwardness." The point here, is, that it is no easy trick to see a large wooden sailing vessel, much less a group of them, through to the end of a cold Acadian winter - one usually sailed them into tropic waters for semi-refit, or back to England (or France) for a full-refit. Further, it is no small task, even in the best of circumstances (experienced men, facilities, tools, and, of course the weather in which to work), to get a British war ship ready for the next season; especially when she had a hard run through the previous season.3

But the feat that earned the most respect for James Cook by those in charge, was the work that Cook and Holland completed, which enabled Admiral Saunders to bring all of his invasion fleet through to Quebec in the spring of 1759, without major mishap: this feat being the compilation of all known charts of the area (mostly they were French).4

In September, 1759, Cook was put in charge of the H.M.S. Northumberland and was with her until she was discharged in England, November, 1762. In April of 1763, the admiralty, thinking him to be "a Person well skilled in making Surveys" instructed him to chart the coasts of Newfoundland; and this he did, and which resulted in charts that sea captains yet use today. The resulting charts came about as a result of "five seasons of painstaking and conscientious survey work" (he spent the winters back in England with his family). It was this work that led to him being appointed to go to the Pacific and his multiple explorations in that area of the world. From this point on his life is relatively easy to follow, as there have been many books written on the exploits of James Cook in the Pacific.5