Birth Of The Endeavour Watercolour Print

The Studio of John Freeman - watercolour artist in Whitby, North Yorkshire

The Birth Of The Endeavour

A Limited Edition Print by John Freeman

Artistic Interpretation

There are conflicting ideas about some aspects of the structure and detail of the Endeavour. Drawings and plans of her are scarce and conflicting contemporary descriptions do not help.

This is also true of Whitby's shipbuilding industry. Sketchy maps and some engravings indicate the location of various yards but their actual form is very much conjecture. John Freeman has taken historic fact, the facts that the Abbey's main tower was still intact and the East side of the river had much warehousing and some dwellings, for example, and portrayed against this backdrop probable working scenes during the construction of this Whitby "Cat".

For compositional reasons much more rigging and spar form is shown than would probably have been used.

Details of costume, tools and working practices of the 1760's have been gleaned from many sources and woven into this major study commissioned by Mr John Bayliss. The basic composition owes a lot to the magnificent "Days of Oak and Hemp" by Frank Mason.

The Shipyard

Whitby was a major shipbuilding port in the 18th century, the sheltered upper harbour with sandbanks sloping into the tidal river Esk gave a safe location for construction work. Many shipyards were located on the west bank of the river. Thomas Fishburn, a prominent Whitby shipbuilder is mentioned from 1717 onwards with the purchase of a yard about 1742. It was presumably here that the Earl Of Pembroke was built in 1764. No real trace of this shipbuilding era remains, much of the developing railway system was built over the yards and dry docks.

The Ship

Built by Thomas Fishburn in 1764 as The Earl Of Pembroke this square rigged ship, which weighed 370 tons, was presumably used to transport coal from the North East to London. It was there in 1768 that she was surveyed and purchased by the Royal Navy as an ideal vessel for the long voyages being planned by Captain James Cook. Her flat bottommed hull allowed her to be beached easily and therefore facilitated cleaning and repairs.