Why did Captain James Cook come to Australia?

Answer 1

After observing the transit of Venus in June 1769, Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a Captain) went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. Cook was under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.

It was shortly after observing the transit of Venus that Cook came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. He spent some months there, charting the coastline. Nearly a year later, he set sail westward for New Holland, the eastern coast of which he later named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.

Captain Cook was commissioned by the Royal Society in England to search the southern seas and find the "Great Southland" ("Terra Australis") that was believed to exist in the world's southern oceans somewhere. The result was that although he hadn't been the first European to discover Australia, he was the first known to have sailed along and chart most of the eastern coast of Australia - which was eventually to become the most significant for settlement.

This was most significant in history because it helped to define the boundaries of the great southern nation: as a result, the Royal Society was still not satisfied that the great Terra Australis had actually yet been found, and Cook named the land, New South Wales, believing it to resemble Wales in the UK. Two years after this journey, in 1772, Cook was sent again to discover if another great land lay east of Australia. It was on this journey that he became the first European to cross the Antarctic Circle.

Answer 2

James Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti.

Cook was then under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.

Answer 3

After observing the transit of Venus in June 1769, Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a Captain) went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. Cook was under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England

Answer 4

James Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. He was then under orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of Australia, making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.

Answer 5

On James Cook's first voyage, he was sent to observe the transit of Venus across the sun from the vantage point of Tahiti. Cook's ship, the 'Endeavour', departed England in August 1768. Cook reached Tahiti and observed the transit which occurred on 3 June 1769.

After observing the transit of Venus, Cook was under secret orders to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. He was to make notes on the geography, fauna and flora, and to determine its potential uses for England, if he found such a land. Cook first came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. He spent some months there, charting the coastline. Several months later, he continued west, reaching New Holland, later Australia.

Answer 6

James Cook did not discover Australia. The continent he explored had been discovered over 150 years before, by the Dutch and possibly even the Portuguese before then.

Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. Cook was then under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.