(No Name)

In 1762, James Cook married Elizabeth Batts at Barking, just to the east of London. Traditionally, information about Elizabeth's origins has been limited and sketchy. She was known to be the daughter of Mary and Samuel (many works continue to call him John or even James) Batts who ran the Bell Alehouse at Execution Dock in Wapping. Mary, herself, was the daughter of Charles Smith, a Bermondsey currier. Samuel Batts died in 1742 and three years later Mary married a man called John Blackburn. Apart from these facts, little else was known. https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/the-origins-of-eliza...

Goodman, Judith (Ed): ‘Coal & Calico, Letters & Papers of the Bennett & Leach Families of Merton & Wandworth’, 2008, Wimbledon, Merton Historical Society. Queries: Tony Leach