Unique painting from Captain Cook's ill-fated third voyage goes on display for first time at Whitby museum dedicated to the sea-farer

A unique watercolour painting from Captain James Cook’s third and fatal voyage is now on display to the public for the first time ever at Whitby’s Captain Cook Museum.

“View of Matavai Bay”, which is in the Island of Otaheite, now known as Tahiti in French Polynesia, has been held for decades in a private collection but has now been acquired by the museum, which is dedicated to the life of the explorer.

It was awarded from the Estate of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby, also the museum’s founder, in lieu of inheritance tax before the pandemic and following the re-opening of museums it has now, finally, gone on display.

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The Dowager, who lived at Mulgrave Castle in Lythe, a few miles up the coast from Whitby - where Captain Cook’s training as a sea-farer began - is thought to have acquired the painting 20 to 30 years before her death and it was kept at her residence for her own enjoyment.

Maria Aparicio, Operation Manager at Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby, next to the acquired watercolour painting that has gone on display for the first time after being gifted from the Estate of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby.Maria Aparicio, Operation Manager at Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby, next to the acquired watercolour painting that has gone on display for the first time after being gifted from the Estate of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby.
Maria Aparicio, Operation Manager at Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby, next to the acquired watercolour painting that has gone on display for the first time after being gifted from the Estate of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby.

It is the work of William Ellis (1751-1785), who was a surgeon’s second mate on Captain Cook’s second and third voyages.

Little is known about him, however, he was a gifted amateur artist and on Cook’s third voyage, Ellis assisted the official artist John Webber recording landscapes and documenting birds and fish.

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“There is a huge amount of interest in this particular voyage and these first encounters between people previously unknown.

“View of Matavai Bay”, which is in the Island of Otaheite, now known as Tahiti in French Polynesia was painted by William Ellis during Captain Cook's third voyage.“View of Matavai Bay”, which is in the Island of Otaheite, now known as Tahiti in French Polynesia was painted by William Ellis during Captain Cook's third voyage.
“View of Matavai Bay”, which is in the Island of Otaheite, now known as Tahiti in French Polynesia was painted by William Ellis during Captain Cook's third voyage.
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“Ellis had some medical training but was an amateur artist and I suspect he got rather better as the voyage went on. Naval officers were always encouraged to sketch the places they went to and the coastal profiles they passed. Without cameras, that was the way to record a place.

“It surprises me when quite a large painting like this emerges, but an awful lot of stuff vanished into either private collections or just kept and not really appreciated for what it was as fashions in art changed through the years.”

The aim of the third voyage was to discover the Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific around the top of North America. It is said that Cook’s orders from the Admiralty were driven by a 1745 Act which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. He led HMS Resolution as it departed Plymouth in July 1776.

On August 23 Cook and his crew arrived at Matavai Bay and anchored there for a month.

When Captain James Cook decided he wanted to go to sea, he was introduced to the Walker family. John Walker and his brother Henry were Quaker shipowners. They housed Cook in a property on Whitby’s Grape Lane which would later become the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.When Captain James Cook decided he wanted to go to sea, he was introduced to the Walker family. John Walker and his brother Henry were Quaker shipowners. They housed Cook in a property on Whitby’s Grape Lane which would later become the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.
When Captain James Cook decided he wanted to go to sea, he was introduced to the Walker family. John Walker and his brother Henry were Quaker shipowners. They housed Cook in a property on Whitby’s Grape Lane which would later become the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.
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Cook famously was killed on this expedition while Ellis would return home, but, died from injuries sustained falling from a ship mast in Belgium in 1785.

History

Captain James Cook was born on October 27, 1728 and as a child moved to Great Ayton.

In 1745, he began work in a general dealer’s shop at Staithes but decided he wanted to go to sea, and was introduced to the Walker family. John Walker and his brother Henry were Quaker shipowners.

They housed Cook in a property on Whitby’s Grape Lane which would later become the Captain Cook Memorial Museum.

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