William Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh FRS (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a British officer in the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. He is best known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty, which occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command. After being set adrift in Bounty's launch by the mutineers, Bligh and those loyal to him all reached Timor alive, after a journey of 3,618 nautical miles (6,700 km; 4,160 mi). Bligh's logbooks documenting the mutiny were inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register on 26 February 2021.
William Bligh | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Alexander Huey (1814) | |
| 4th Governor of New South Wales | |
| In office 13 August 1806 – 26 January 1808 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Lieutenant | William Paterson |
| Preceded by | Philip Gidley King |
| Succeeded by | Lachlan Macquarie |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 September 1754 Plymouth, Devon (or St Tudy, Cornwall), England |
| Died | 7 December 1817 (aged 63) London, England |
| Resting place | St Mary-at-Lambeth, Lambeth, London, England |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Betham
(m. 1781; died 1812) |
| Children | 8, including Mary Putland |
| Occupation | Naval officer, colonial administrator |
| Known for | Mutiny on the Bounty |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1761–1783 1787–1817 |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral of the Blue |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards | Naval Gold Medal |
Seventeen years after the Bounty mutiny, on 13 August 1806, Bligh was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade of the New South Wales Corps. His actions directed against the trade resulted in the so-called Rum Rebellion, during which Bligh was placed under arrest on 26 January 1808 by the New South Wales Corps and deposed from his command, an act which the British Foreign Office later declared to be illegal. He died in London on 7 December 1817.