Now Captain Cook is ‘cancelled’: Fury at plans to axe name of first explorer to set foot in Australia from square in town where he grew up as part of rebrand by Labour council

• The shopping hub in the city in north Yorkshire was to be known as ‘The Square’ 

Plans to rename Middlesbrough’s Captain Cook Square to drop the mention of the famed explorer have sparked fury. 

The shopping hub in the city in north Yorkshire was to be known as ‘The Square’ from early next year, as part of a rebrand backed by the Labour-run council.

Responding to the move, Andy Preston, Middlesbrough’s former mayor, called it ‘baffling’ and said the Labour council are ‘spending money they don’t have’.

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council then said today that the name change announcement had been made ‘prematurely’.

They said they have asked the firm that manages the square to pause the rebrand so a consultation with residents can take place. 

Plans to rename Middlesbrough’s Captain Cook Square to drop the mention of the famed explorer have sparked fury

Captain Cook, who was born in the Marton area of Middlesbrough, was the first European explorer to set foot in Australia

READ MORE: Cancel Captain Cook? You might as well cancel maps, science or humanity itself: As courageous explorer becomes latest British hero to be condemned by the historically ignorant woke mob, DOMINIC SANDBROOK hits back

It came after Labour councillors also hit back at Mr Preston’s criticism, accusing him of having made the rebrand decision himself before he departed his role as mayor in May this year.

Mr Preston told Gazette Live in response: ‘I can categorically say I never took any official decision. In fact I can’t even remember a conversation about it. 

‘Changing the name now without consultation is wrong and trying to connect my name to it is absurd.’ 

Plans are also underway to close the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, with artefacts set to be moved to the nearby Dorman Museum.

Captain Cook, who was born in the Marton area of Middlesbrough, was the first European explorer to set foot in Australia.

He also mapped areas including New Zealand and Hawaii, where he was stabbed to death following an altercation with islanders in 1779. 

Both Middlesbrough’s railway station and its main hospital are named after the explorer.

In a post on Facebook earlier this month that has now been deleted, Praxis – the managing agent of Captain Cook Square, said: ‘A new year and a new line up will also see us rebrand with a new name as we evolve from shopping centre of the past to Middlesbrough ‘s newest destination to meet, eat, drink and play.

‘Say goodbye to Captain Cook Square and hello to THE SQUARE, a new name for a new generation.’

They said they also plan to welcome new brands and restaurants to the area. 

Mr Preston had said on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘Is Middlesbrough’s Labour Council whitewashing history to appease the woke minority? 

‘In a baffling move, they’re spending money they don’t have to rename Captain Cook Square. 

‘Local boy Cook, the world’s greatest navigator, was the first European to encounter and chart Australia.’ 

A Middlesbrough Council spokesman said: ‘The Square branding was promoted by Praxis, the managing agent of Captain Cook Square, after consultation with current and potential tenants in February.

The shopping hub in the city in north Yorkshire was to be known as ‘The Square’ from early next year, as part of a rebrand backed by the Labour-run council. Above: A depiction of the rebranded square

‘No Council funds have been spent on the digital branding materials issued in recent days.

‘The brand was designed to reflect the area’s transformation from a shopping centre into a leisure destination.

‘No consultation on the change took place with elected Mayor Chris Cooke and his Executive before the announcement, which was made prematurely.

‘As a result we have asked Praxis to pause work on the rebrand so it can be reviewed and include consultation with Middlesbrough residents.

‘Exciting things are happening at Captain Cook Square and the area is integral to the regeneration of Middlesbrough town centre.’

It comes after statues of Captain Cook were defaced in New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii following the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

Monuments to him in the UK – in Great Ayton, Whitby and London – were also added to a ‘hitlist’ drawn up by anti-racism campaigners.

Mr Preston stepped in to defend the explorer, calling him a ‘genuine working class hero’. 

From humble beginnings to national hero: Captain Cook 

James Cook (1728-1779) was an explorer, navigator, cartographer and captain in the British Royal Navy.

He was born in Marton, Yorkshire, and was the second of eigh children of a Scottish farm labourer. His father’s employer paid for him to attend school, and aged 16 moved to Staithes to be apprenticed as a shop boy.

Eighteen months later, Cook moved to port town Whitby and was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice.

James Cook (1728-1779) was an explorer, navigator, cartographer and captain in the British Royal Navy

In 1755, he joined the Royal Navy, seeing action in the Seven Years’ War and surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. This came at a crucial time in his career and in the direction of British overseas exploration, and led to his commission as commander of HM Bark Endeavour in 1766 for the first of three voyages.

Cook sailed thousands of miles across then uncharted areas of the world, mapping lands from New Zealand and Hawaii and surveying and naming features and recording islands and coastlines on European maps.

His critics in Australia and New Zealand regard him as the dispossessor of the indigenous peoples, argue that his name is synonymous with the advent of European colonialism, and believe too much emphasis is placed on him in their own national narratives.

Cook was attacked and killed in 1779 during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific while attempting to kidnap the Island of Hawaii’s monarch in order to reclaim a cutter stolen from him.

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