William Bligh (1745-1817)

William Bligh remains one of history’s most famous naval officers. Despite his immense talent as a highly skilled navigator and cartographer, Bligh’s career was ultimately defined by historic conflicts, the mutiny of the Bounty and the ‘Rum Rebellion’. 

Portrait by William Huey

Was it an extraordinary streak of bad luck or his rigid command style and hot temper that led to conflicts throughout his career? His most legendary misfortune occurred in 1789 aboard the HMS Bounty, where Fletcher Christian led a mutiny that cast Bligh and 18 loyal crewmen adrift in a tiny 23-foot launch. In a brilliant feat of seamanship, Bligh navigated 3,618 nautical miles to safety, only to face further disasters later in life. He survived the 1797 Spithead and Nore mutinies of the entire fleet and was later overthrown during the 1808 ‘Rum Rebellion’ while serving as Governor of New South Wales. The RGSSA library holds a rare 1792 copy of Bligh’s account of the Bounty voyage, including the mutiny and the voyage of the launch back to Timor, an 1832 copy of the memoirs of Peter Heyward, a mutineer sentenced to hang, and a 1793 copy of George Hamilton’s account of the Pandora’s voyage to capture the mutineers.