William Bligh
Encyclopedia
Vice Admiral
William Bligh FRS RN
(9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy
and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny
occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor
, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers. Fifteen years after the Bounty mutiny, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum
trade of the New South Wales Corps
, resulting in the so-called Rum Rebellion
.
word Blyth meaning Wolf.
Bligh was born in St Tudy
near Bodmin
in Cornwall to Francis and Jane (Balsam) Bligh. He was signed for the Royal Navy
at age seven, it being common to sign on a "young gentleman" simply to gain experience at sea required for promotion. In 1770, at age 16, he joined HMS Hunter as an able seaman
, the term used because there was no vacancy for a midshipman
. He became a midshipman early in the following year. In September 1771, Bligh was transferred to the Crescent and remained on the ship for three years.
In 1776, Bligh was selected by Captain James Cook
for the position of sailing master on the Resolution
and accompanied Cook in July 1776 on Cook's third and fatal voyage to the Pacific. He reached England at the end of 1780 and was able to give details of Cook's last voyage.
Bligh married Elizabeth Betham, daughter of a Customs Collector (stationed in Douglas, Isle of Man
), on 4 February 1781. The wedding took place at nearby Onchan
.
A few days later, he was appointed to serve on HMS Belle Poule as its master. Soon after this, in August 1781, he fought in the Battle of Dogger Bank
under Admiral Parker
. For the next 18 months, he was a lieutenant on various ships. He also fought with Lord Howe
at Gibraltar
in 1782.
Between 1783 and 1787, Bligh was a captain in the merchant service. In 1787, Bligh was selected as commander of the Bounty. He would eventually rise to the rank of Vice Admiral
in the Royal Navy.
, he first sailed to Tahiti
to obtain breadfruit
trees, then set course for the Caribbean
, where breadfruit was wanted for experiments to see whether it would be a successful food crop for slaves there. The Bounty never reached the Caribbean, as mutiny
broke out on board shortly after the ship left Tahiti.
The voyage to Tahiti was difficult. After trying unsuccessfully for a month to round Cape Horn
, the Bounty was finally defeated by the notoriously stormy weather and forced to take the longer way around the Cape of Good Hope
. That delay caused in a further delay in Tahiti, as he had to wait five months for the breadfruit plants to mature sufficiently to be transported. The Bounty departed Tahiti in April 1789.
-rated as a Master's Mate—in charge of one of the watches. The mutiny
, which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Christian and supported by eighteen of the crew. They had seized firearms during Christian's night watch and surprised and bound Bligh in his cabin.
Despite being in the majority, none of the loyalists put up a significant struggle once they saw Bligh bound, and the ship was taken over without bloodshed. The mutineers provided Bligh and eighteen loyal crewmen with a 23 foot (7m) launch (so heavily loaded that the gunwales were only a few inches above the water). They were given four cutlasses, enough food and water to reach the most accessible ports, a quadrant
and a compass, but no charts, sextant
or Marine chronometer
. The launch could not hold all the loyal crew members, so four were detained on the Bounty for their useful skills; they were later released at Tahiti
.
Tahiti was upwind from Bligh's initial position, and was the obvious destination of the mutineers. Many of the loyalists claimed to have heard the mutineers cry "Huzzah for Otaheite!" as the Bounty pulled away. Timor
was the nearest European outpost, so Bligh and his crew first made for Tofua
, to obtain supplies. However, they were attacked by hostile natives and a crewman was killed. Fleeing from Tofua, Bligh did not dare to stop at the next islands (the Fiji
islands), as he had no weapons for defence and expected hostile receptions.
Bligh had confidence in his navigational skills, which he had perfected under the instruction of Captain Cook
. His first responsibility was to survive and get word of the mutiny as soon as possible to British vessels that could pursue the mutineers. Thus, he undertook the seemingly impossible 3,618 nautical mile (6,701 km) voyage to Timor. In this remarkable act of seamanship, Bligh succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day voyage, the only casualty being the crewman killed on Tofua. Several of the men who survived this ordeal with him soon died of sickness, possibly malaria, in the pestilential Dutch East Indies
port of Batavia
, as they waited for transport to Britain.
s" life of an ordinary seaman. They were led by a weak Fletcher Christian in order to be free from Bligh's acid tongue. This view holds that the crew took the ship so they could return to comfort and ease on Tahiti.
The Bounty's log shows that Bligh resorted to punishments relatively sparingly. He scolded when other captains would have whipped and whipped when other captains would have hanged. He was an educated man, deeply interested in science, convinced that good diet and sanitation were necessary for the welfare of his crew. He took a great interest in his crew's exercise, was very careful about the quality of their food, and insisted upon the Bounty being kept very clean. He tried (unsuccessfully) to check the spread of venereal disease among them . Prior to the mutiny only two members of the ship's crew had died, one seaman from infection and the ship's doctor from indolence
. J. C. Beaglehole has described the major flaw in this otherwise enlightened naval officer: "[Bligh made] dogmatic judgements which he felt himself entitled to make; he saw fools about him too easily... thin-skinned vanity was his curse through life... [Bligh] never learnt that you do not make friends of men by insulting them."
Beaglehole's judgment is supported by the small settlers in NSW (see Bligh's tenure as NSW Governor), who named sons after him. Bligh had the moral courage to take on what he saw was wrong, and he strongly supported those he thought were right.
Popular fiction often confuses Bligh with Edward Edwards of HMS Pandora
, who was sent on the Royal Navy's expedition to the South Pacific to find the mutineers and bring them to trial. Edwards was every bit the cruel man that Bligh was accused of being; the 14 men that he captured were confined in a cramped 18' x 11' x 5' 8" wooden cell on the Pandora's quarterdeck. When the Pandora ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef
, 4 of the prisoners and 31 of the crew were killed. The prisoners would have all perished, had not William Moulter, a bosun's mate, unlocked their cage before jumping off the sinking vessel.
, Dutch East Indies
, (circa June 1791) in which the first reference to events on the Bounty is made.
into the loss of the Bounty, Bligh remained in the Royal Navy. From 1791 to 1793, as master and commander of and in company with , he undertook again to transport breadfruit
from Tahiti
to the West Indies. The operation was successful, and breadfruit is a popular food in the West Indies to this day. During this voyage Bligh also collected samples of the ackee fruit
of Jamaica
, introducing it to the Royal Society
in Britain upon his return. The ackee's scientific name Blighia sapida in binomial nomenclature
was given in honour of Bligh.
As captain of HMS Director, at the Battle of Camperdown
on 11 October 1797, Bligh engaged three Dutch vessels: the Haarlem, the Alkmaar and the Vrijheid. While the Dutch suffered serious casualties, only 7 seamen were wounded in Director.
Bligh went on to serve under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, in command of HMS Glatton
, a 56-gun ship of the line
, which was experimentally fitted exclusively with carronades. After the battle, Bligh was personally praised by Nelson for his contribution to the victory. He sailed
Glatton safely between the banks while three other vessels ran aground. When Nelson pretended not to notice Admiral Parker's signal "43" (stop the battle) and kept the signal "16" hoisted to continue the engagement, Bligh was the only captain in the squadron who could see that the two signals were in conflict. By choosing to fly Nelson's signal, he ensured that all the vessels behind him kept fighting.
Bligh had gained the reputation of being a firm disciplinarian. Accordingly, he was offered the position of Governor of New South Wales by Sir Joseph Banks
and appointed in March 1805, at £2,000 per annum, twice the pay of the retiring Governor Philip Gidley King
. He arrived in Sydney in August 1806, to become the fourth governor. During his time in Sydney, his confrontational administrative style provoked the wrath of a number of influential settlers and officials. They included the wealthy landowner and businessman John Macarthur
and prominent Crown representatives such as the colony's Principal Surgeon, Thomas Jamison
, and senior officers of the New South Wales Corps
. Jamison and his military associates were defying government regulations by engaging in private trading ventures for profit: Bligh was determined to put a stop to this practice.
The conflict between Bligh and the entrenched colonists culminated in another mutiny, the Rum Rebellion
, when, on 26 January 1808, the New South Wales Corps under Major George Johnston
marched on Government House in Sydney and arrested him. A rebel government was subsequently installed and Bligh, now deposed, made for Hobart
in Tasmania aboard HMS Porpoise. Bligh failed to gain support from the authorities in Hobart to retake control of New South Wales, and remained effectively imprisoned on the Porpoise from 1808 until January 1810.
Of interest, however, was Bligh's concern for the more recently arrived settlers in the colony, who did not have the wealth and influence of Macarthur and Jamison. Looking at the tombstones in Ebenezer and Richmond cemeteries (areas being settled west of Sydney during Bligh's tenure as Governor), it is instructive to note the number of boys born around 1807 to 1811 who were named "William Bligh XXXXX" (family name).
Bligh was eventually permitted to sail from Hobart. He arrived in Sydney on 17 January 1810 to collect evidence for the coming court martial in England of Major Johnston. He departed to attend the trial on 12 May 1810, arriving on 25 October 1810. The following year, the trial's presiding officers sentenced Johnston to be cashiered, a form of disgraceful dismissal that entailed surrendering his commission in the Royal Marines
without compensation. (This was a comparatively mild punishment which enabled Johnston to return, a free man, to New South Wales, where he could continue to enjoy the benefits of his accumulated private wealth.) Bligh was court martialled twice again during his career.
Soon after Johnston's trial had concluded, Bligh received a backdated promotion to Rear Admiral
. In 1814 he was promoted again, to Vice Admiral of the Blue
. Significantly perhaps, he never again received an important command. He did, however, design the North Bull Wall at the mouth of the River Liffey
in Dublin. Its purpose was to clear a sandbar by Venturi action
. As a result of its building. North Bull Island
was formed by the sand cleared by the river's now more narrowly focused force. Bligh also charted and mapped Dublin Bay
.
, London on 6 December 1817 and was buried in a family plot at St. Mary's, Lambeth
(This church is now the Garden Museum). His tomb, notable for its use of Lithodipyra (Coade stone
), is topped by a breadfruit.
A plaque marks Bligh's house, one block east of the Garden Museum at 100 Lambeth Road, near Imperial War Museum.
His descendants include Addenbrooke's Hospital
Occupational Therapist
, Frances Bligh and current Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh
.
He was also related to Admiral Sir Richard Bligh
and Captain George Miller Bligh
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
William Bligh FRS RN
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers. Fifteen years after the Bounty mutiny, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum
Rum
Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...
trade of the New South Wales Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
, resulting in the so-called Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
.
Early life
The name Bligh comes from the Cornish languageCornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
word Blyth meaning Wolf.
Bligh was born in St Tudy
St Tudy
St Tudy is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated in the River Camel valley approximately five miles northeast of Wadebridge.-Parish church:...
near Bodmin
Bodmin
Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
in Cornwall to Francis and Jane (Balsam) Bligh. He was signed for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
at age seven, it being common to sign on a "young gentleman" simply to gain experience at sea required for promotion. In 1770, at age 16, he joined HMS Hunter as an able seaman
Able Seaman (rank)
In the British Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term able seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years' experience at sea...
, the term used because there was no vacancy for a midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
. He became a midshipman early in the following year. In September 1771, Bligh was transferred to the Crescent and remained on the ship for three years.
In 1776, Bligh was selected by Captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
for the position of sailing master on the Resolution
HMS Resolution (Cook)
HMS Resolution was a sloop of the Royal Navy, and the ship in which Captain James Cook made his second and third voyages of exploration in the Pacific...
and accompanied Cook in July 1776 on Cook's third and fatal voyage to the Pacific. He reached England at the end of 1780 and was able to give details of Cook's last voyage.
Bligh married Elizabeth Betham, daughter of a Customs Collector (stationed in Douglas, Isle of Man
Douglas, Isle of Man
right|thumb|250px|Douglas Promenade, which runs nearly the entire length of beachfront in Douglasright|thumb|250px|Sea terminal in DouglasDouglas is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping...
), on 4 February 1781. The wedding took place at nearby Onchan
Onchan
Onchan , is a village in the parish of Onchan on the Isle of Man. It is at the north end of Douglas Bay. Although administratively a village, it has the second largest population on the island, after Douglas, with which it forms a conurbation....
.
A few days later, he was appointed to serve on HMS Belle Poule as its master. Soon after this, in August 1781, he fought in the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1781)
The naval Battle of the Dogger Bank took place on 5 August 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, part of the American War of Independence, in the North Sea...
under Admiral Parker
Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet
Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet was a British naval commander.Parker was born at Tredington, Gloucestershire. His father, a clergyman, was a son of Sir Henry Parker. His paternal grandfather had married a daughter of Alexander Hyde, Bishop of Salisbury. He began his career at sea in the...
. For the next 18 months, he was a lieutenant on various ships. He also fought with Lord Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in 1782.
Between 1783 and 1787, Bligh was a captain in the merchant service. In 1787, Bligh was selected as commander of the Bounty. He would eventually rise to the rank of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
in the Royal Navy.
Naval career
William Bligh's naval career consisted of a variety of appointments and assignments. He first rose to prominence as Master of HMS Resolution, under the command of Captain Cook. Bligh received praise from Cook during what would be the latter's final voyage. A summary follows:| Date | Rank | Ship (number of guns) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 July 1761 – 21 February 1763 | Ship's Boy and Captain's Servant | HMS Monmouth (64) HMS Monmouth (1667) HMS Monmouth was a 66-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, and was the second ship to be named for the town of Monmouth in Wales. She served from 1667 to 1767, winning ten battle honours over a century of active service... |
| 27 July 1770 | Able Seaman Able Seaman (rank) In the British Royal Navy in the middle of the 18th century, the term able seaman referred to a seaman with at least two years' experience at sea... |
HMS Hunter (10) |
| 5 February 1771 | Midshipman Midshipman A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya... |
HMS Hunter |
| 22 September 1771 | Midshipman | HMS Crescent HMS Crescent (1779) HMS Crescent was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Crescent was first commissioned in about September 1779 under the command of Captain Charles Hope.- References :... (28) |
| 2 September 1774 | Able Seaman | HMS Ranger |
| 30 September 1775 | Master's mate Master's mate Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master... |
HMS Ranger |
| 20 March 1776 – October 1780 | Master Master (naval) The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel... |
HM Sloop Resolution HMS Resolution (Cook) HMS Resolution was a sloop of the Royal Navy, and the ship in which Captain James Cook made his second and third voyages of exploration in the Pacific... (12) |
| 14 February 1781 | Master | HMS Belle Poule French ship Belle Poule (1765) Belle Poule was a French frigate of the Dédaigneuse class, designed and built by Léon-Michel Guignace, famous for her duel with the English frigate Arethusa on 17 June 1778, which began the French involvement in the American War of Independence.... |
| 5 October 1781 | Lieutenant | HMS Berwick HMS Berwick (1775) HMS Berwick was a 74-gun Elizabeth-class third rate of the Royal Navy, launched at Portsmouth Dockyard on 18 April 1775, to a design by Sir Thomas Slade. She fought the French at the Battle of Ushant and the Dutch at the Battle of Dogger Bank... (74) |
| 1 January 1782 | Lieutenant | HMS Princess Amelia HMS Princess Amelia (1757) HMS Princess Amelia was an 80-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Woolwich Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment, and launched on 7 March 1757.... (80) |
| 20 March 1782 | Lieutenant | HMS Cambridge HMS Cambridge (1755) HMS Cambridge was an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 21 October 1755.-Early career:... (80) |
| 14 January 1783 | Joins Merchant Service | |
| 1785 | Commanding Lieutenant | Merchant Vessel Lynx |
| 1786 | Lieutenant | Merchant Vessel Britannia |
| 1787 | Returns to Royal Navy | |
| 16 August 1787 | Commanding Lieutenant | HM Armed Vessel Bounty HMS Bounty HMS Bounty , famous as the scene of the Mutiny on the Bounty on 28 April 1789, was originally a three-masted cargo ship, the Bethia, purchased by the British Admiralty, then modified and commissioned as His Majesty's Armed Vessel the... |
| 14 November 1790 | Commander Commander Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval... |
HM Brig-sloop Falcon (14) |
| 15 December 1790 | Captain Captain (naval) Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel.... |
HMS Medea HMS Medea (1778) HMS Medea was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Medea was first commissioned in May 1778 under the command of Captain William Cornwallis.- References :... (28) (for rank only) |
| 16 April 1791 – 1793 | Captain | (28) |
| 16 April 1795 | Captain | HMS Calcutta HMS Calcutta (1795) HMS Calcutta was an East Indiaman converted to a Royal Navy 56-gun fourth rate. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia in a voyage that became a circumnavigation of the world. The French 74-gun Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805... (24) |
| 7 January 1796 | Captain | HMS Director HMS Director (1784) HMS Director was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 March 1784 at Gravesend. She was laid down speculatively in the November of 1779, and ordered by the Navy the following year.... (64) |
| 18 March 1801 | Captain | HMS Glatton HMS Glatton (1795) HMS Glatton was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched as the Glatton, an East Indiaman, on 29 November 1792 by Wells & Co. of Blackwell. The Royal Navy bought her in 1795 and converted her into a warship. Glatton was unusual in that for a time she was the only ship-of-the-line... (56) |
| 12 April 1801 | Captain | HMS Monarch HMS Monarch (1765) HMS Monarch was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 20 July 1765 at Deptford Dockyard.Monarch had a very active career, fighting in her first battle in 1778 at the First Battle of Ushant and her second under Admiral Rodney at Cape St. Vincent in 1780... (74) |
| 8 May 1801 – 28 May 1802 | Captain | HMS Irresistible HMS Irresistible (1782) HMS Irresistible was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 6 December 1782 at Harwich.She fought at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and at the Battle of Cape St Vincent in 1797.Irresistible was broken up in 1806.... (74) |
| March 1802 – May 1804 | Peace of Amiens | |
| 2 May 1804 | Captain | HMS Warrior HMS Warrior (1781) HMS Warrior was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 October 1781 at Portsmouth.A year after her launch she took part in the Battle of the Saintes. In 1801, she was part of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's reserve squadron at the Battle of Copenhagen, and so did not... (74) |
| 14 May 1805 | Appointed Governor of New South Wales | |
| 27 September 1805 | Captain | HMS Porpoise (12), voyage to New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... |
| 13 August 1806 – 26 January 1808 | Governor of New South Wales | |
| 31 July 1808 | Commodore Commodore (Royal Navy) Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:... |
HMS Porpoise (12), Tasmania |
| 3 April 1810 – 25 October 1810 |
Commodore | HMS Hindostan HMS Hindostan (1804) HMS Hindostan was a 50-gun two-decker fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier that the Royal Navy brought into service in May 1804... (50), returning to England. |
| 31 July 1811 | Appointed Rear Admiral of the Blue (backdated to 31 July 1810) | |
| 4 June 1814 | Appointed Vice Admiral of the Blue | |
The first breadfruit voyage
In 1787, Bligh took command of the Bounty. In order to win a premium offered by the Royal Society of ArtsRoyal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
, he first sailed to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
to obtain breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
trees, then set course for the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, where breadfruit was wanted for experiments to see whether it would be a successful food crop for slaves there. The Bounty never reached the Caribbean, as mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
broke out on board shortly after the ship left Tahiti.
The voyage to Tahiti was difficult. After trying unsuccessfully for a month to round Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
, the Bounty was finally defeated by the notoriously stormy weather and forced to take the longer way around the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
. That delay caused in a further delay in Tahiti, as he had to wait five months for the breadfruit plants to mature sufficiently to be transported. The Bounty departed Tahiti in April 1789.
The mutiny
Since it was rated only as a cutter, the Bounty had no officers other than Bligh himself (who was then only a lieutenant), a very small crew, and no Marines to provide protection from hostile natives during stops or enforce security on board ship. To allow longer uninterrupted sleep, Bligh divided his crew into three watches instead of two, placing his protégé Fletcher ChristianFletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian was a master's mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants...
-rated as a Master's Mate—in charge of one of the watches. The mutiny
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
, which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Christian and supported by eighteen of the crew. They had seized firearms during Christian's night watch and surprised and bound Bligh in his cabin.
Quadrant (instrument)
A quadrant is an instrument that is used to measure angles up to 90°. It was originally proposed by Ptolemy as a better kind of astrolabe. Several different variations of the instrument were later produced by medieval Muslim astronomers.-Types of quadrants:...
and a compass, but no charts, sextant
Sextant
A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle between any two visible objects. Its primary use is to determine the angle between a celestial object and the horizon which is known as the altitude. Making this measurement is known as sighting the object, shooting the object, or taking a sight...
or Marine chronometer
Marine chronometer
A marine chronometer is a clock that is precise and accurate enough to be used as a portable time standard; it can therefore be used to determine longitude by means of celestial navigation...
. The launch could not hold all the loyal crew members, so four were detained on the Bounty for their useful skills; they were later released at Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
.
Tahiti was upwind from Bligh's initial position, and was the obvious destination of the mutineers. Many of the loyalists claimed to have heard the mutineers cry "Huzzah for Otaheite!" as the Bounty pulled away. Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
was the nearest European outpost, so Bligh and his crew first made for Tofua
Tofua
Tofua Caldera, in Tonga, is the summit caldera of a steep-sided composite cone that forms Tofua Island. Tofua Island is in Tonga's Ha'apai island group. Pre-caldera activity is recorded by a sequence of pyroclastic deposits and lavas constituting the older cone, followed on the northern part of the...
, to obtain supplies. However, they were attacked by hostile natives and a crewman was killed. Fleeing from Tofua, Bligh did not dare to stop at the next islands (the Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
islands), as he had no weapons for defence and expected hostile receptions.
Bligh had confidence in his navigational skills, which he had perfected under the instruction of Captain Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
. His first responsibility was to survive and get word of the mutiny as soon as possible to British vessels that could pursue the mutineers. Thus, he undertook the seemingly impossible 3,618 nautical mile (6,701 km) voyage to Timor. In this remarkable act of seamanship, Bligh succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day voyage, the only casualty being the crewman killed on Tofua. Several of the men who survived this ordeal with him soon died of sickness, possibly malaria, in the pestilential Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
port of Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, as they waited for transport to Britain.
Why the mutiny
To this day, the reasons behind the mutiny are a subject of debate. Some believe that Bligh was a cruel tyrant whose abuse of the crew led them to feel that they had no choice but to take over the ship. Others argue that the crew, inexperienced and unused to the rigours of the sea and, after having been exposed to freedom and sexual license on Tahiti, refused to return to the "Jack TarJack Tar
Jack Tar was a common English term used to refer to seamen of the Merchant or Royal Navy, particularly during the period of the British Empire. Both members of the public, and seafarers themselves, made use of the name in identifying those who went to sea...
s" life of an ordinary seaman. They were led by a weak Fletcher Christian in order to be free from Bligh's acid tongue. This view holds that the crew took the ship so they could return to comfort and ease on Tahiti.
The Bounty's log shows that Bligh resorted to punishments relatively sparingly. He scolded when other captains would have whipped and whipped when other captains would have hanged. He was an educated man, deeply interested in science, convinced that good diet and sanitation were necessary for the welfare of his crew. He took a great interest in his crew's exercise, was very careful about the quality of their food, and insisted upon the Bounty being kept very clean. He tried (unsuccessfully) to check the spread of venereal disease among them . Prior to the mutiny only two members of the ship's crew had died, one seaman from infection and the ship's doctor from indolence
Laziness
Laziness is a disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to do so. It is often used as a pejorative; related terms for a person seen to be lazy include couch potato, slacker, and bludger....
. J. C. Beaglehole has described the major flaw in this otherwise enlightened naval officer: "[Bligh made] dogmatic judgements which he felt himself entitled to make; he saw fools about him too easily... thin-skinned vanity was his curse through life... [Bligh] never learnt that you do not make friends of men by insulting them."
Beaglehole's judgment is supported by the small settlers in NSW (see Bligh's tenure as NSW Governor), who named sons after him. Bligh had the moral courage to take on what he saw was wrong, and he strongly supported those he thought were right.
Popular fiction often confuses Bligh with Edward Edwards of HMS Pandora
HMS Pandora (1779)
HMS Pandora was a 24-gun Porcupine-class sixth-rate post ship of the Royal Navy launched in May 1779. She is best known as the ship sent in 1790 to search for the Bounty and the mutineers who had taken her...
, who was sent on the Royal Navy's expedition to the South Pacific to find the mutineers and bring them to trial. Edwards was every bit the cruel man that Bligh was accused of being; the 14 men that he captured were confined in a cramped 18' x 11' x 5' 8" wooden cell on the Pandora's quarterdeck. When the Pandora ran aground on the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
, 4 of the prisoners and 31 of the crew were killed. The prisoners would have all perished, had not William Moulter, a bosun's mate, unlocked their cage before jumping off the sinking vessel.
Aftermath
In October 1790, Bligh was honourably acquitted at the court-martial inquiring into the loss of the Bounty. Shortly thereafter, A Narrative of the Mutiny on board His Majesty's Ship "Bounty" was published. Of the 10 surviving prisoners, eventually brought home in spite of the Pandoras loss, four were acquitted, due to Bligh's testimony that they were non-mutineers that Bligh was obliged to leave on the Bounty due to lack of space in the launch. Two others were convicted because, while not participating in the mutiny, they were passive and did not resist. They subsequently received royal pardons. One was convicted but excused on a technicality. The remaining three were convicted and hanged.Bligh's letter to his wife, Betsy
The following is a letter to Bligh's wife, written from CoupangKupang
Not to be confused with Tanjung Kupang in JohoreKupang is the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara province in southeast Indonesia....
, Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, (circa June 1791) in which the first reference to events on the Bounty is made.
My Dear, Dear Betsy,
I am now, for the most part, in a part of the world I never expected, it is however a place that has afforded me relief and saved my life, and I have the happiness to assure you that I am now in perfect health...
Know then my own Dear Betsy, that I have lost the Bounty...on the 28 April at day light in the morning Christian having the morning watch. He with several others came into my Cabin while I was a Sleep, and seizing me, holding naked Bayonets at my Breast, tied my Hands behind my back, and threatened instant destruction if I uttered a word. I however call'd loudly for assistance, but the conspiracy was so well laid that the Officers Cabbin Doors were guarded by Centinels, so Nelson, Peckover, Samuels or the Master could not come to me. I was now dragged on Deck in my Shirt & closely guarded – I demanded of Christian the case of such a violent act, & severely degraded for his Villainy but he could only answer – "not a word sir or you are Dead." I dared him to the act & endeavoured to rally some one to a sense of their duty but to no effect...
The Secrisy of this Mutiny is beyond all conception so that I can not discover that any who are with me had the least knowledge of it. It is unbeknown to me why I must beguile such force. Even Mr. Tom Ellison took such a liking to Otaheite [Tahiti] that he also turned Pirate, so that I have been run down by my own Dogs...
My misfortune I trust will be properly considered by all the World – It was a circumstance I could not foresee – I had not sufficient Officers & had they granted me Marines most likely the affair would never have happened – I had not a Spirited & brave fellow about me & the Mutineers treated them as such. My conduct has been free of blame, & I showed everyone that, tied as I was, I defied every Villain to hurt me...
I know how shocked you will be at this affair but I request of you My Dear Betsy to think nothing of it all is now past & we will again looked forward to future happyness. Nothing but true consciousness as an Officer that I have done well could support me....Give my blessings to my Dear Harriet, my Dear Mary, my Dear Betsy & to my Dear little stranger & tell them I shall soon be home...To You my Love I give all that an affectionate Husband can give –
Love, Respect & all that is or ever will be in the power of your
ever affectionate Friend and Husband Wm Bligh.
The second breadfruit voyage
After his exoneration by the Court Martial inquiryInquiry
An inquiry is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ways that each type of inquiry achieves its aim.-Deduction:...
into the loss of the Bounty, Bligh remained in the Royal Navy. From 1791 to 1793, as master and commander of and in company with , he undertook again to transport breadfruit
Breadfruit
Breadfruit is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, growing throughout Southeast Asia and most Pacific Ocean islands...
from Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
to the West Indies. The operation was successful, and breadfruit is a popular food in the West Indies to this day. During this voyage Bligh also collected samples of the ackee fruit
Ackee
The ackee, also known as the vegetable brain, achee, akee apple or akee is a member of the Sapindaceae , native to tropical West Africa in Cameroon, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.It is...
of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, introducing it to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
in Britain upon his return. The ackee's scientific name Blighia sapida in binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature
Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...
was given in honour of Bligh.
Subsequent career and the Rum Rebellion
In 1797 Bligh was one of the captains whose crews mutinied over "issues of pay and involuntary service for common seamen" during the Spithead mutiny. Despite receiving some of their demands at Spithead, disputes over navy life continued among the common sailors. Bligh was again one of the captains affected during the mutiny at the Royal Navy anchorage of Nore. "Bligh became more directly involved in the Nore Mutiny", which "failed to achieve its goals of a fairer division of prize money and an end to brutality." It should be noted that these events were not triggered by any specific actions by Bligh as they "were widespread, [and] involved a fair number of English ships". It was at this time that he learned "that his common nickname among men in the fleet was 'that Bounty bastard'."As captain of HMS Director, at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...
on 11 October 1797, Bligh engaged three Dutch vessels: the Haarlem, the Alkmaar and the Vrijheid. While the Dutch suffered serious casualties, only 7 seamen were wounded in Director.
Bligh went on to serve under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, in command of HMS Glatton
HMS Glatton (1795)
HMS Glatton was a 56-gun fourth rate of the Royal Navy. She was launched as the Glatton, an East Indiaman, on 29 November 1792 by Wells & Co. of Blackwell. The Royal Navy bought her in 1795 and converted her into a warship. Glatton was unusual in that for a time she was the only ship-of-the-line...
, a 56-gun ship of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
, which was experimentally fitted exclusively with carronades. After the battle, Bligh was personally praised by Nelson for his contribution to the victory. He sailed
Glatton safely between the banks while three other vessels ran aground. When Nelson pretended not to notice Admiral Parker's signal "43" (stop the battle) and kept the signal "16" hoisted to continue the engagement, Bligh was the only captain in the squadron who could see that the two signals were in conflict. By choosing to fly Nelson's signal, he ensured that all the vessels behind him kept fighting.
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
and appointed in March 1805, at £2,000 per annum, twice the pay of the retiring Governor Philip Gidley King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
. He arrived in Sydney in August 1806, to become the fourth governor. During his time in Sydney, his confrontational administrative style provoked the wrath of a number of influential settlers and officials. They included the wealthy landowner and businessman John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)
John Macarthur was a British army officer, entrepreneur, politician, architect and pioneer of settlement in Australia. Macarthur is recognised as the pioneer of the wool industry that was to boom in Australia in the early 19th century and become a trademark of the nation...
and prominent Crown representatives such as the colony's Principal Surgeon, Thomas Jamison
Thomas Jamison
Thomas Jamison was a prominent surgeon, government official, mercantile trader and land owner of Sydney, Australia. Jamison was also a member of the First Fleet expedition of 11 ships which founded the Australian colony of New South Wales in 1788...
, and senior officers of the New South Wales Corps
New South Wales Corps
The New South Wales Corps was formed in England in 1789 as a permanent regiment to relieve the marines who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies...
. Jamison and his military associates were defying government regulations by engaging in private trading ventures for profit: Bligh was determined to put a stop to this practice.
The conflict between Bligh and the entrenched colonists culminated in another mutiny, the Rum Rebellion
Rum Rebellion
The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia's history. The Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh, was deposed by the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston, working closely with John Macarthur, on 26 January 1808, 20...
, when, on 26 January 1808, the New South Wales Corps under Major George Johnston
George Johnston (New South Wales)
Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnston was briefly Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, Australia after leading the rebellion later known as the Rum Rebellion....
marched on Government House in Sydney and arrested him. A rebel government was subsequently installed and Bligh, now deposed, made for Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in Tasmania aboard HMS Porpoise. Bligh failed to gain support from the authorities in Hobart to retake control of New South Wales, and remained effectively imprisoned on the Porpoise from 1808 until January 1810.
Of interest, however, was Bligh's concern for the more recently arrived settlers in the colony, who did not have the wealth and influence of Macarthur and Jamison. Looking at the tombstones in Ebenezer and Richmond cemeteries (areas being settled west of Sydney during Bligh's tenure as Governor), it is instructive to note the number of boys born around 1807 to 1811 who were named "William Bligh XXXXX" (family name).
Bligh was eventually permitted to sail from Hobart. He arrived in Sydney on 17 January 1810 to collect evidence for the coming court martial in England of Major Johnston. He departed to attend the trial on 12 May 1810, arriving on 25 October 1810. The following year, the trial's presiding officers sentenced Johnston to be cashiered, a form of disgraceful dismissal that entailed surrendering his commission in the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
without compensation. (This was a comparatively mild punishment which enabled Johnston to return, a free man, to New South Wales, where he could continue to enjoy the benefits of his accumulated private wealth.) Bligh was court martialled twice again during his career.
Soon after Johnston's trial had concluded, Bligh received a backdated promotion to Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
. In 1814 he was promoted again, to Vice Admiral of the Blue
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
. Significantly perhaps, he never again received an important command. He did, however, design the North Bull Wall at the mouth of the River Liffey
River Liffey
The Liffey is a river in Ireland, which flows through the centre of Dublin. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac. The river supplies much of Dublin's water, and a range of recreational opportunities.-Name:The river was previously named An Ruirthech,...
in Dublin. Its purpose was to clear a sandbar by Venturi action
Venturi effect
The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section of pipe. The Venturi effect is named after Giovanni Battista Venturi , an Italian physicist.-Background:...
. As a result of its building. North Bull Island
Bull Island
Bull Island or more properly North Bull Island is an island located in Dublin Bay in Ireland, about 5 km long and 800 m wide, lying roughly parallel to the shore off Clontarf , Raheny, Kilbarrack, and facing Sutton...
was formed by the sand cleared by the river's now more narrowly focused force. Bligh also charted and mapped Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay
Dublin Bay is a C-shaped inlet of the Irish Sea on the east coast of Ireland. The bay is about 10 kilometres wide along its north-south base, and 7 km in length to its apex at the centre of the city of Dublin; stretching from Howth Head in the north to Dalkey Point in the south...
.
Death
Bligh died in Bond StreetBond Street
Bond Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London that runs north-south through Mayfair between Oxford Street and Piccadilly. It has been a fashionable shopping street since the 18th century and is currently the home of many high price fashion shops...
, London on 6 December 1817 and was buried in a family plot at St. Mary's, Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
(This church is now the Garden Museum). His tomb, notable for its use of Lithodipyra (Coade stone
Coade stone
Lithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
), is topped by a breadfruit.
A plaque marks Bligh's house, one block east of the Garden Museum at 100 Lambeth Road, near Imperial War Museum.
His descendants include Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong links to the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1766 on Trumpington Street with £4,500 from the will of Dr John Addenbrooke, a fellow of St Catharine's College...
Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapist
An occupational therapist is trained in the practice of occupational therapy. The role of an occupational therapist is to work with a client to help them achieve a fulfilled and satisfied state in life through the use of "purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional...
, Frances Bligh and current Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh
Anna Bligh
Anna Maria Bligh is an Australian politician and the Premier of Queensland since 2007. The 2009 Queensland state election was the first time a female-led political party won or retained state or federal government in Australia...
.
He was also related to Admiral Sir Richard Bligh
Richard Bligh
Sir Richard Rodney Bligh GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral....
and Captain George Miller Bligh
George Miller Bligh
George Miller Bligh was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. He was present aboard at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was badly wounded during the action...
External links
- http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010111b.htmA. G. L. Shaw, 'Bligh, William (1754 –1817)', Australian Dictionary of BiographyAustralian Dictionary of BiographyThe Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise, founded and maintained by the Australian National University to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's history....
, Volume 1, MUP, 1966, pp. 118–122.], including: - Portraits of Bligh in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
- Royal Naval Museum, The Mutiny on HMS Bounty .
- The Extraordinary Life, Times and Travels of Vice-Admiral William Bligh. Multimedia biography with music, sound effects, video, large images and graphics.
- William Bligh's official HMS Bounty logbook – State Library of NSW
- William Bligh's official Bounty logbook, transcribed from the original held at National Archives, UK
- William Bligh's letters to Joseph Banks concerning the first breadfruit expedition
- Bligh Notebook in which he kept notes during the voyage in the Bounty's launch
- Bligh's Resource Logbook. Bligh's personal logbook of the voyage of the schooner Resource, which carried the launch survivors from Coupang, Timor, to Batavia, Java.
- Bligh's Vlydt Journal. A log kept of his return to England from Batavia on the Dutch packet Vlydt.
- Bligh's Providence Logbook
- Rutter, Owen, Turbulent Journey: A Life of William Bligh, Vice-admiral of the Blue, I. Nicholson and Watson, 1936
- Mackaness, George, The Life of Vice-Admiral William Bligh, R.N., F.R.S. By Farrar & Rinehart, 1936
- George Tobin – Journal on HMS Providence, 1791–1793