The Royal BC Museum acquires china set once owned by Captain Cook’s widow Elizabeth Cook

In 1778, when British navigator Captain James Cook and his crew landed at the Mowachaht summer encampment in Nootka Sound called Yuquot, they were the first recorded Europeans to set foot on what we now commonly refer to as Vancouver Island.

Reflecting Cook’s preeminence as a colonial explorer, seaman, and cartographer of the west coast, the Royal BC Museum has a number of artifacts related to Cook in its collections, which in their entirety help outline a rough character sketch of the man.

Today, the Royal BC Museum adds more colour and context to this portrait, as it gratefully accepts the transfer of a 20-piece set of dessert china, once owned by Cook’s widow, Elizabeth Cook (née Batts), from the City of Victoria.