51 Facts About William Bligh

Vice-Admiral William Bligh was a British officer in the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator.

William Bligh is best known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty, which occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command.

William Bligh's logbooks documenting the mutiny were inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World register on 26 February 2021.

William Bligh's 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.

William Bligh's ancestral home of Tinten Manor in St Tudy, near Bodmin, Cornwall, is a possibility.

William Bligh's mother, Jane Pearce, was a widow who married Francis at the age of 40.

William Bligh was signed for the Royal Navy at age seven, at a time when it was common to sign on a "young gentleman" simply to gain, or at least record, the experience at sea required for a commission.

William Bligh became a midshipman early in the following year.

William Bligh was able to supply details of Cook's last voyage following the return.

William Bligh fought with Lord Howe at Gibraltar in 1782.

Between 1783 and 1787, William Bligh was a captain in the Merchant Service.

In 1787, William Bligh was selected as commander of His Majesty's Armed Transport Bounty.

William Bligh rose eventually to the rank of vice admiral in the Royal Navy.

William Bligh first rose to prominence as Master of Resolution, under the command of Captain James Cook.

William Bligh received praise from Cook during what would be the latter's final voyage.

William Bligh served on three of the same ships on which Fletcher Christian served simultaneously in his naval career.

William Bligh took Christian under his wing, and the two became friends.

Meanwhile, William Bligh completed a voyage of more than 3,500 nautical miles to the west in the launch to reach safety north of Australia in the Dutch East Indies and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.

That delay caused a further delay in Tahiti, as William Bligh had to wait five months for the breadfruit plants to mature sufficiently to be potted in soil and transported.

The gunner William Bligh Peckover, brought his pocket watch which was used to regulate time.

William Bligh made use of a small notebook to sketch a rough map of his discoveries.

William Bligh had confidence in his navigational skills, which he had perfected under the instruction of Captain James Cook.

William Bligh succeeded in reaching Timor after a 47-day voyage, the only casualty being the crewman killed on Tofua.

The reasons behind the mutiny are still debated; some sources report that William Bligh was a tyrant whose abuse of the crew led them to feel that they had no choice but to take over the ship.

Bountys log shows that William Bligh was relatively sparing in his punishments.

William Bligh scolded when other captains would have whipped, and whipped when other captains would have hanged.

William Bligh was an educated man, deeply interested in science, convinced that good diet and sanitation were necessary for the welfare of his crew.

William Bligh 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.

William Bligh 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.

William Bligh transported plants provided by Hugh Ronalds, a nurseryman in Brentford.

William Bligh went on to serve under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, in command of Glatton, a 56-gun ship of the line, which was experimentally fitted exclusively with carronades.

William Bligh sailed Glatton safely between the banks while three other vessels ran aground.

When Nelson pretended not to notice Admiral Parker's signal "43" and kept the signal "16" hoisted to continue the engagement, William Bligh was the only captain in the squadron who could see that the two signals were in conflict.

William Bligh was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 1801 for distinguished services in navigation, botany, etc.

William Bligh arrived in Sydney on 6 August 1806, to become the fourth governor.

Jamison and his military associates were defying government regulations by engaging in private trading ventures for profit, a practice which William Bligh was determined to end.

William 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.

William Bligh received a letter in January 1810, advising him that the rebellion had been declared illegal, and that the British Foreign Office had declared it to be a mutiny.

William Bligh arrived in Sydney on 17 January 1810, only two weeks into Macquarie's tenure.

William Bligh departed to attend the trial on 12 May 1810, arriving on 25 October 1810.

William Bligh was recruited to chart and map Dublin Bay, and recommended the building walls for a refuge harbour at what was then known as Dunleary; the large harbour and naval base subsequently built there between 1816 and 1821 was called Kingstown, later renamed Dun Laoghaire.

Many sources claim that William Bligh designed the North Bull Wall at the mouth of the River Liffey in Dublin.

William Bligh did propose the construction of a sea wall or barrier at the north of the bay clear a sandbar by Venturi action, but his design was not used.

William Bligh died of cancer in Bond Street, London, on 7 December 1817 and was buried in a family plot at St Mary's, Lambeth.

William Bligh's tomb was notable for its use of Coade stone, a compound of clay and other materials which was moulded in imitation of carved stonework and fired in a kiln.

William Bligh was related to Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh and Captain George Miller Bligh, and his British and Australian descendants include Native Police Commandant John O'Connell Bligh and the former Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh.

William Bligh was distantly related to the architect and psychical researcher Frederick Bligh Bond.

William Bligh has been the subject of numerous print and film portrayals for many decades.

William Bligh has been portrayed in film by the following actors:.

William Bligh is humorously portrayed in Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's short story "Frenchman's Creek" as a competent but irascible and tactless surveyor sent to a small fishing village in Cornwall during the Napoleonic Wars.

The situation in Sydney in 1810, with William Bligh returning from Tasmania to be restored as governor, is the setting of Naomi Novik's fantasy novel Tongues of Serpents.