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James Cook Historical Museum

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James Cook Historical Museum, Heritage museum in Cooktown, Australia.

Cooktown Museum occupies a two-storeyed brick building on Furneaux Street, designed by Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and built 1888–1889 by Hobbs & Carter. Only the core and north wing were completed, so the planned second wing is missing. Footings are concrete, the plinth is Cooktown granite, and the bricks came from Campbell & Sons in Brisbane. Deep verandahs run front and back, the rear ones enclosed with curtain boards and the front ones trimmed with cast iron.

Bishop John Hutchinson, the first Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown, initiated the building as St Mary's Convent and School; it was designed by former colonial architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley and erected by Brisbane contractors Hobbs & Carter in 1888–1889. Five Sisters of Mercy from Ireland arrived in June 1888 to staff it, and Hutchinson opened the completed core and north wing on 12 May 1889 at a cost of nearly £5,000. The planned second wing was never built. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

The building's name recalls St Mary's Convent and School, opened by Bishop John Hutchinson on 12 May 1889. It was the first girls' high school in far North Queensland and drew pupils from families of all denominations, gaining a reputation for its music teaching. Singer Gladys Moncrieff was educated there.

The building stands on the crest of the ridge running south from Grassy Hill, above Cooktown's main street, with a view over the Endeavour River estuary. The former convent core and north wing are what remain; the planned second wing was never built. Deep verandahs front and back, with cast iron at the front, shelter the large rooms.

The building was the first girls' high school in far North Queensland and gained a reputation for its music curriculum; the singer Gladys Moncrieff was educated there. Bishop Hutchinson funded much of it himself and borrowed from relatives in Ireland.

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October 24, 2026 17:58
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« James Cook Historical Museum - Heritage museum in Cooktown, Australia » is provided by Around Us (aroundus.com). Images and texts are derived from Wikimedia project under a Creative Commons license. You are allowed to copy, distribute, and modify copies of this page, under the conditions set by the license, as long as this note is clearly visible.

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