Vice Admiral William Bligh, FRS, RN
Vice Admiral William Bligh, FRS, RN (9 September 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.
Bligh was born in St Tudy near Bodmin in Cornwall. 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 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. Bligh returned to England at the end of 1780 and was able to give details of Cook's last voyage.
In 1787, Bligh took command of the Bounty. In order to win a premium offered by the Royal Society of Arts, 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 mutiny, which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Bligh’s protege, Fletcher Christian and supported by eighteen of the crew. The mutineers provided Bligh and eighteen loyal crewmen with a 23 foot (7m) launch, a quadrant and a compass, and enough provisions to reach the most accessible ports.
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 a crewman killed by hostile natives on Tofua where they had stopped for supplies.
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. After the battle, Bligh was personally praised by Nelson for his contribution to the victory.
Bligh had gained the reputation of being a firm disciplinarian. Accordingly, he was offered the position of Governor of New South Wales (Aug 1806 - Jan 1808) by Sir Joseph Banks and appointed at £2,000 per annum, twice the pay of the retiring Governor Philip Gidley King. He arrived in Sydney 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 died in Bond Street, London on 6 December 1817 and was buried in a family plot at St. Mary's, Lambeth (this church is now the Garden Museum).
Located near a small totally brackish man-made water reservoir, this cache is accessed by some cross-country hiking. Plenty of animal trails leading in the general direction help make the going not too tough.