Captain Cook's Cottage introduction: Captain Cook's Cottage (CAPTAIN COOK'S COTTAGE) is the cabin where James Cook was born in Yorkshire, England in 1728. He was the first to land on the Australian continent and declare Australia as British territory. man, regarded as the founder of Australia. To commemorate him, the first British man to arrive in Australia, in 1934, during the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Melbourne, Sir Russell, an Australian industrialist, invested 800 pounds to buy Captain Cook's former residence in England as a gift. To the people of Melbourne. People carefully dismantled the former residence, numbered each piece of building material, packed it in 253 boxes with a total weight of 150 tons, shipped it from the UK to Melbourne, and then assembled it as it was.