Please note that the Captain Cook Museum Whitby will be closed from 1st December 2025 to 7th February 2026. 

Visit the Grade 1 Listed house where James Cook Lodged, 1746-1749

17th century house with 18th century collections tell the Cook story. Original letters written by Cook and associates, paintings by the voyage artists, maps, ship models and Pacific artefacts. 

Special Exhibition: Imagined Geographies and First Encounters

When explorers such as Captain James Cook returned from distant voyages, their journals sparked profound questions: What unknown lands remained? Were all humans originally one species, or did distinct races emerge separately? Could humans be classified in the same way as plants or animals?  Were there different stages of human development?  How did indigenous peoples fit into a scheme where Europeans were regarded as the most advanced? 

The Enlightenment was a transformative period in 18th-century Europe.  Exploration. science, and rational inquiry completed the map of the world and reshaped how people understood it.  It was an era of curiosity, discovery, and speculation about lands and peoples beyond Europe’s familiar borders. 

The nature of first encounters was deeply uncertain for both sides. Europeans had long speculated about meeting giants, mythical beings, or lost civilizations.  Indigenous peoples faced the mystery of strange and unexpected visitors — were they gods, divine messengers, or simply other humans from a faraway land? 

This exhibition focuses on the exploration of then unknown parts of the world and outlines some first encounters between Cook and indigenous communities across the Pacific from the Northwest Coast of North America to Aotearoa/New Zealand.  It reflects how these influenced geography, literature, and even children’s games, shaping perceptions of the wider world. 

Beyond those early interactions, we consider how geographic knowledge developed and is taught today to try and ensure that modern education promotes a broader and more nuanced understanding of peoples, places and their histories.