Captain Cook Memorial Museum him on as apprentice seaman for a three-year term. Cook served Walker first as apprentice, then as seaman and lastly as master’s mate until he joined the Royal Navy in 1755. He spent most of his time at sea on Walker’s colliers, mainly in the coal trade between the Tyne and London but including voyages to the Baltic and Dublin. The Whitby historian George Young, ‘Life of Cook’ 1836, stated that during Cook’s apprenticeship Walker retained Cook in Whitby on occasion and lodged him in the attic of the house in Grape Lane. There should be no difficulty in accepting
James Colnett in Devon at Devonport in 1753, and was baptised on 18 October 1753 at Stoke Damerel parish church, Plymouth. His parents were James and Sarah (née Lang) Colnett. He had two older sisters and one younger brother. Very little is known about his life until he joined the Royal Navy as an able-bodied seaman in 1770. Colnett joined the Royal Navy in June 1770, initially serving as an able seaman aboard , and then aboard as a midshipman under Lieutenant James Cook from September until December 1771, when both Cook and Colnett moved to . Colnett served as a midshipman