William Bligh

For thoughtful child sponsors

William Bligh (September 9, 1754 - December 7, 1817) was a British Royal Navy officer (with final rank of Vice Admiral), best known because of the famous mutiny against his command aboard HMAV Bounty.

Bligh was born in Plymouth, a seaport in south-west England, and went to sea at the age of fifteen. In 1776 he was selected by Captain James Cook for the crew of the Resolution.

It was in 1787 that he took command of the Bounty on a voyage to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit trees for an experiment in growing them in the Carribean for food. The mutiny, during the return voyage, was led by Master's Mate Fletcher Christian and supported by a quarter of the crew. The mutineers provided Bligh and 18 among the loyal crew with a 23-foot launch, provisions sufficient to reach the most accessible ports, a sextant and a pocket watch, but no charts or compass. Bligh disdained the obvious course of action, which would have been sailing for nearer Spanish ports where they would be repatriated to Britain after delays. With confidence in his navigational skils, and considering his first responsibility to be getting word of the mutiny as soon as possible to British vessels that could pursue the mutineers, he embarked instead on a 3200-mile voyage to Timor. In the successful 41-day voyage, the only casualty was one crewman killed by hostile natives.

To this day, the reasons for the mutiny are a subject of considerable debate. Some feel that Bligh was a cruel tyrant whose abuse of the crew led members of the crew to feel that they had no coice but to take the ship from Bligh. Others feel that the crew, after having been exposed to freedom and sexual excess on the island of Tahiti refused to return to the "Jack Tars" existence of a seaman. They hold that the crew took the ship from Bligh so that they could return to a life of comfort and pleasure on Tahiti.

After a court of inquiry, Bligh went on to serve under Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen.

He became governor of New South Wales in 1805. There he suffered another mutiny, this time the Rum Rebellion, and was imprisoned from 1808 to 1810.

In 1811, having been exonerated, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and 3 years later, in 1814, promoted again, to Vice Admiral of the Blue.

Bligh died at the age of 64, on December 7, 1817 and was buried in a family plot at Lambeth.