^† The only description of Cook's father which has any claim to authenticity is that given by George Colman, the younger, in an account of a tour in the year 1775 into the northern parts of England. The party consisted of the two Colmans—father and son—Captain Phipps (afterwards Lord Mulgrave), Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks, and Omai, a native of Ulietea. These were the “visitors at the Hall,” named in the subjoined extract. They were the guests of Sir Charles Turner, of Kirkleatham Hall, near Gisborough. Colman writes:—“In the adjacent village of Kirkleatham there was, at this time, an individual residing in a neat, comfortable cottage, who excited much interest in the visitors at the Hall. His looks were venerable from his great age, and his deportment was above that usually found among the lowly inhabitants of a hamlet. How he had acquired this air of superiority over his neighbours it is difficult to say, for his origin must have been humble. His eightieth summer had nearly passed away, and only two or three years previously he had learned to read, so that he might gratify a parent's love and pride by perusing his son's first voyage round the world! He was the father of Captain Cook.” Memoirs of the Colman Family, R. B. Peake, vol. i, p 277. For an account of Cook's ancestors see The Topographer and Genealogist, vol. ii, pp. 551–552.