William Bligh

Bligh's mother, Jane Pearce (née Balsam; 1713–1768), was a widow who married Francis at the age of 40.

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.

Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a British officer in the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator.

William Bligh was born on 9 September 1754, but it is not clear where.

It is likely that he was born in Plymouth, Devon, as he was baptised at St Andrew's Church on Royal Parade in Plymouth on 4 October 1754, where Bligh's father, Francis (1721–1780), was serving as a customs officer.

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

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 HMS Crescent (1779) and remained on the ship for three years.

Like many lieutenants, he would have found full-pay employment in the Navy; however, commissions were hard to obtain with the fleet largely demobilised at the end of the War with France when that country was allied with the North American rebelling colonies in the War of American Independence (1775–1783).

In 1776, Bligh was selected by Captain James Cook (1728–1779), for the position of sailing master of HMS Resolution (1771) and accompanied Cook in July 1776 on Cook's third voyage to the Pacific Ocean, during which Cook was killed and was succeeded by Captain Charles Clerke, who was dying from tuberculosis.

Due to his weakened state, Clerke placed Bligh in charge as navigator of the expedition and attempted to explore the Northwest Passage for a second time.

Following Cook's and Clerke's deaths, Bligh played a significant role in navigating the beleaguered expedition back to England in August 1780.

He was also able to supply details of Cook's last voyage following the return.

In the early 1780s, while in the merchant service, Bligh became acquainted with a young man named Fletcher Christian (1764–1793), who was eager to learn navigation from him.

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

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.< The couple had eight children together: six daughters and twin sons (the boys died in infancy).

Soon after this, in August 1781, he fought in the Battle of Dogger Bank under Admiral Parker, which won him his commission as a lieutenant.

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 His Majesty's Armed Transport Bounty.

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

William Bligh's naval career involved various appointments and assignments.

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

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

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

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 3618 nmi.

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

The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel HMAV Bounty occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789.

Led by Master's Mate / Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, disaffected crewmen seized control of the ship, and set the then Lieutenant Bligh, who was the ship's captain, and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship's open launch.

The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on Pitcairn Island.

Meanwhile, Bligh completed a voyage of more than 3,500 nmi to the west in the launch to reach safety north of Australia in the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia) and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice.

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.

The couple remained married until Elizabeth's death on 15 April 1812.

A few days after the wedding, Bligh was appointed to serve on HMS Belle Poule as master (senior warrant officer responsible for navigation).

He died in London on 7 December 1817.