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Whitby is in
North Yorkshire at the mouth of the River
Esk in England. Today, the Town is a
major tourist attraction with the
Captain
Cook Memorial Museum, many Boat Trips
including a scaled down version of the
Endeavour, Whitby Jet Jewelry, Sea
Fishing, Amusements, many Kids Play
areas, Restaurants, Bar/Diners and a good
selection of Fish and Chip Shops.
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. Yorkshire Section
The first recorded settlement here was
named Streonshal in 656. The Christian
King of Northumbria ( Oswy) founded
Whitby Abbey at that time. That Monastery
was destroyed by Viking raiders in 867,
with rebuilding begining in 1078. The
Town was named Whitby around that time,
meaning White Settlement in Old
Norse.
Whitby had between 20 and 30 houses in
1540. By the early 1600s, the Town had
grown substantialy with the trade in
alum, a
chemical compound used in industry,
medicine and cosmetics.
The Town expanded more in the 1700s
with Shipbuilding and Whaling, as well as
mining Jet, a
black rock found in the areas Cliffs that
is made into Jewelry.
Tomas Fishburn built a coal carrying
Ship at Whitby in 1764, named Earl of
Pembroke. The Royal Navy bought that ship
in 1768 to be converted to serve as their
exploration ship named HMS Endeavour.
Captain James
Cook comanded the ship on voyages to
Australia and New Zealand.
Cook had moved to Whitby in 1747 to
work on Ships transporting Coal along the
English coast. He joined the Royal Navy
in 1755, then made three Round the World
Voyages, the first in 1766.
Cook was killed on his third voyage on
the Island of Hawaii, after a skirmish
with the Islanders.
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