Cooktown Museum

This substantial, two-storeyed brick building was erected in 1888–1889 as St Mary's Convent and School. It was the inspiration of the first Vicar Apostolic of Cooktown, Bishop John Hutchinson; designed by former colonial architect Francis Drummond Greville Stanley, of Brisbane; and staffed initially by Sisters of Mercy from Dunvargan in Ireland. only the core and north wing had been completed, at a cost of nearly . The intention was to complete the second wing as funds permitted, but this did not eventuate. The substantial brick building was the most imposing structure in Cooktown, pre-dating the Queensland National Bank building in Charlotte Street by about two years. The footings were of concrete and the plinth was constructed of Cooktown granite. Most of the bricks were obtained from Campbell & Sons' brickworks in Brisbane, and shipped to Cooktown. Much of the skilled labour required for the construction also came from Brisbane. when the building is understood to have been commandeered by United States military authorities. Although the building was returned to the Church in 1945 after the war, the school was not re-opened and the Sisters never returned. Another cyclone damaged the building in 1949 and by 1969 it was considered to be in such a ruinous state that tenders for its demolition were called. Following public protest, the building was donated to the National Trust of Queensland on condition that it be restored to house the collection of the James Cook Historical Museum at Cooktown. The new Museum was opened on 22 April 1970 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, during her visit to Australia to celebrate the bi-centenary of Cook's charting of the east coast. The former St Mary's Convent and School continues to be maintained by the National Trust, and is one of the principal tourist attractions in Cooktown. In the early 1970s, extensions were made to the rear of the building to house the museum collection. The grounds have been landscaped as the Joseph Banks Memorial Garden, planted with about 40 of the 186 plants catalogued by Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander during their 7-week stay at the Endeavour River in 1770. Each of these 40 plants is peculiar to the Cooktown area. In December 2021, the museum was renamed Cooktown Museum. == Description ==

The former St Mary's Convent is sited on a hill overlooking the Endeavour River. It is constructed in red brick in a Victorian Gothic style. It has an L-shaped floor plan with a bay projecting to the west on its northern end. Brick cornices surround the building below the ground-floor- and first-floor-window levels and at first-floor level. The roof has a steep pitch and is now clad in corrugated iron replacing the original ribbed pan. The roof finishes as a gable over the western bay and as a truncated hipped form at the southern end. The original decorative ridge cast-iron work and roof vents have been removed from the truncated section of roof. Later dormer windows have been installed with four along the east elevation, one on north side and two on the west elevation. There are verandahs on the east and west elevation. The west or front verandah is supported on paired cast-iron Corinthian columns which divide it into five bays. Each bay is finished with arching decorative cast-iron brackets. The paired columns at first-floor level rise in Doric detailing to support the verandah roof. The rear or eastern verandah is infilled but retains its original detailing of single columns cast-iron first-floor balustrade and deep vertical timbered valance at ground-floor level. The former single-storeyed hipped roof brick kitchen building remains to the rear on the north side; additions have been made adjacent to this to service the museum. On the western bay there are three centrally positioned long, narrow windows at ground-floor and first-floor levels, and above these a round vent with hood mould. On the north elevation there are sets of four double-hung timber windows symmetrically positioned at the ground-floor and first-floor levels; these have window hoods with scalloped fascias. The central timber doorway with side lights is accessed via a set of stone stairs from the western verandah. This doorway is flanked on each side by double-hung windows with shallow arched heads and hood moulds over. The apex of the western gable roof has cast-iron panels fixed between a collar tie supported by decorative timber brackets and a king post running up to the roof and supporting a cross. The central hall contains a fine timber staircase. Rooms of various dimension run off central corridors at ground and first-floor levels. The rooms in the northern end of the building provide large museum display space. Walls are plaster over brick and ceilings lath and plaster with moulded decorative cornices. == Heritage listing ==

James Cook Historical Museum was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' The former St Mary's Convent and School, erected 1888–89, is important in demonstrating the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular the dramatic rise and fall of Cooktown as a port, supply and administrative centre to the Palmer River goldfields in the last quarter of the 19th century. Its construction evidences the buoyant Cooktown economy of the late 1880s and survives as a highly evocative illustration of late 19th century confidence in the future of Cooktown as the principal port and town of far North Queensland. Construction of the convent and school also demonstrates the importance attached by the colonising culture to establishing (religious) education, considered a "civilising" influence in remote districts of Queensland during the frontier phase of our history. '''The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.''' It is significant for its rarity value: few late 19th century buildings of this substance and decorative detail were erected in centres as remote as Cooktown, accessible only by sea in the 1880s. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. The former convent and school is an excellent, highly intact example of a substantial, 1880s boom era brick institutional building with decorative detailing, designed to accommodate the tropical Cooktown climate and to cater for both convent and school purposes. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The building is well maintained, retains its aesthetic appeal, and makes a significant contribution to the Cooktown townscape. Situated prominently on the ridge running south from Grassy Hill, the place is visible from the sea approach to the town, and has been considered a Cooktown landmark since its construction in the late 1880s. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The place has a strong association for the people of Cooktown and district with the town's earlier prominence in Queensland's history. This was evidenced by the public outcry in the late 1960s when the Catholic Church called for the place to be demolished. As the James Cook Historical Museum, the place has become a major Cooktown tourist attraction. '''The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history.''' The place has significant associations with the work of the Augustinian fathers, in particular Bishops Hutchinson and Murray, and the Sisters of Mercy, in the Vicariate Apostolic of Cooktown in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and with the American military during the Second World War. Since 1970, it has had an important and close connection with the James Cook Historical Museum collection. The Joseph Banks Memorial Garden was established in the grounds of the former convent as a memorial to the work of botanist Joseph Banks and Dr Solander during their 7-week encampment at the Endeavour River in 1770. ==Notes==