John Gore (seaman)

Captain John Gore (d.1790) was an American sailor who circumnavigated the globe four times with the Royal Navy in the 18th century and accompanied Captain James Cook in his discoveries in the Pacific Ocean.

History

Although little is known about John Gore prior to his service with the Royal Navy, it is believed he was born in Virginia in either 1729 or 1730. He first appears in the record books in 1755, joining HMS "Windsor" at Portsmouth as a midshipman.

Five years later Gore took his lieutenant's exam and was appointed master's mate of HMS "Dolphin". Aboard the "Dolphin" Gore circumnavigated the globe twice—first under John Byron and then Samuel Wallis. His experience in the Pacific Ocean and on extended navy expeditions led to him being called up to join James Cook's mission to record the Transit of Venus in Tahiti and search for "Terra Australis" in 1768 aboard HMS "Endeavour".

Gore had previously been part of the Royal Navy crew aboard Wallis's "Dolphin" that had "discovered" Tahiti and he became valuable to Cook for his knowledge of the island. In 1769 Gore became the first recorded person on the expedition to shoot and kill a person of Maori descent, following an altercation over a piece of cloth as the "Resolution" charted the coast of New Zealand. Later, on 14 July 1770 Gore subsequently became famous for being the first person to shoot and kill a kangaroo (for scientific research) as the expedition made its way up the eastern seaboard of Australia.

Returning to England, in 1772 Gore joined the botanist Joseph Banks (who had also been on Cook's first Pacific voyage) in a private scientific expedition to Iceland and the Hebrides. Gore and Banks may have become friends as evidence shows that Banks was the executor of Gore's will. The trip did not return until after Cook had sailed on his second Pacific voyage.

However in 1776 Gore answered the call from Cook and the admiralty once again and joined HMS "Resolution" as First Lieutenant for Cook's third voyage. As the "Resolution" explored the Pacific in search of the famed Northwest Passage, Gore would sight the American continent of his birth from the west coast. Later, following Cook's death in Hawaii, Charles Clerke, captain of "Resolution's" sister ship HMS "Discovery" took command. Gore then assumed command of "Discovery" in Clerke's place. When Clerke himself died shortly after, Gore took responsibility for the entire expedition (unaware that his homeland had declared its independence from Great Britain two years previously) and brought the ships home to England on October 4, 1780—more than a year after assuming command.

In recognition of his achievements John Webber, who had previously painted Cook, took Gore's portrait as the navy made him an honorary Post-Captain. Moving further in the footsteps Cook, he was offered the late Captain's vacant rooms at the Greenwich Hospital. In 1790, having circumnavigated the globe four times, he died. Gore was survived by a son, who 40 years later moved to Australia but little is known of his wife, Ann Gore. His grandson, Graham Gore, continued the expeditionary heritage, perishing in John Franklin's ill-fated attempt to navigate the Northwest Passage, nearly 70 years after his grandfather had attempted the same.

Gore Point and the Gore Peninsula in the Alaskan Kenai fjords were named for John Gore by Captain Nathaniel Portlock, a fellow veteran of Cook's third voyage who explored the Pacific Northwest of America in the late 18th century.

References

* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms1 "The Endeavour" journal (1)] and [http://www.nla.gov.au/pub/endeavour/ "The Endeavour" journal (2)] , as kept by James Cook - digitised and held by the National Library of Australia
*Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
* [http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu41126.htm#REF1 The Quiet Mariner] by Johanna Parker (Curator, National Archives of Australia) at the Captain Cook Society
* [http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu4154.htm John Gore's Young One] and [http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu41142.htm John Gore's Young One - an update] by Madge Darby and Cliff Thornton at the Captain Cook Society
*"The Life of John Ledyard, the American Traveller" by Jared Sparks (1829) Hilliard & Brown, pages 76–77
*"Exploring Alaska's Kenai Fjords" by David Wm Miller (2004) Wilderness Images ISBN 0961395419
* [http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/jcr/~cookmen5.html The Men who sailed with Captain James Cook]