Background
William Bligh was born on 9 September in 1754 in Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom, where his father was a customs officer.
(This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FL9VX0/?tag=2022091-20
(William Bligh's account of the fatal voyage of the bounty...)
William Bligh's account of the fatal voyage of the bounty, and his subsequent 3,600-mile trip to Timor in an open boat. Bligh was not the tyrant of legend--in fact, he may have been one of the most lenient commanders of a Pacific exploration ship of that period.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1589762282/?tag=2022091-20
( Cast out from their ship by Fletcher Christian and his ...)
Cast out from their ship by Fletcher Christian and his rebel band, William Bligh and eighteen seamen were forced to journey thousands of miles to the nearest port in a small open boat, with inadequate supplies and without a compass or charts. This time-honored classic, written in 1790, is Bligh's personal account of an extraordinary feat of seamanship, in which he used a sextant, a pocket watch, and his own iron will to direct an ill-equipped vessel and crew to safety across nearly 4,000 miles of rolling sea. Bligh's memoir also recounts the events of a routine voyage of scientific exploration to Tahiti that achieved legendary status when it erupted into the world's most famous mutiny. The captain's narrative offers a marked contrast to the familiar tale of film and fiction. Anyone who thrilled to the Bounty movies, along with all lovers of maritime adventure, will be captivated by this story of daring and perseverance.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486472574/?tag=2022091-20
(The names William Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and the Boun...)
The names William Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and the Bounty have excited the popular imagination for more than two hundred years. The story of this famous mutiny has many beginnings and many endings but they all intersect on an April morning in 1789 near the island known today as Tonga. That morning, William Bligh and eighteen surly seamen were expelled from the Bounty and began what would be the greatest open-boat voyage in history, sailing some 4,000 miles to safety in Timor. The mutineers led by Fletcher Christian sailed off into a mystery that has never been entirely resolved. While the full story of what drove the men to revolt or what really transpired during the struggle may never be known, Penguin Classics has brought together-for the first time in one volume-all the relevant texts and documents related to a drama that has fascinated generations. Here is the full text of Bligh's Narrative of the Mutiny, the minutes of the court proceedings gathered by Edward Christian in an effort to clear his brother's name, and the highly polemic correspondence between Bligh and Christian-all amplified by Robert Madison's illuminating Introduction and rich selection of subsequent Bounty narratives. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140439161/?tag=2022091-20
(I would like to be able to say, "It's all here." But eboo...)
I would like to be able to say, "It's all here." But ebook limitations don't allow me to do that. I've had to omit some things, but nothing pertinent to the story. There are two columns, Knots and Fathoms, that contain only numbers, these are omitted. There are two columns, Courses and Winds, which contain only directions, N, WSW, East, these are omitted. There is a column, Observations, sometimes omitted from the log itself, that when included contains various celestial and navigational observations. This column has been omitted. There are generally five figures for the ship's position: for the latitude, Observed and Dead Reckoning, and for the longitude, Dead Reckoning, Time Keeper, and Lunar & Time Keeper. I have merged these into two figures for the ship's position, the decimal latitude and longitude. Other than that, everything is here, every word. The Bounty logbook covers the Bounty's voyage up to the mutiny, and the voyage of Bligh and his men in the Bounty's launch from the mutiny to Timor. Plus, the logbook of the Resource, and Bligh's Vlydt Journal are also included. The Resource was the schooner Bligh purchased in Timor to carry his men to Java. The Vlydt was a Dutch ship which carried Bligh, his clerk, and his servant from Java to England. The Journal was kept in the form of a logbook. The Bounty's logbook was transcribed from images of the official logbook of the Bounty held at the National Archives, Kew, England. The official logbook was a clean copy of the logbook made by Bligh's clerk and turned in to the Admiralty when he returned to England. The logbook that actually went on the voyage was Bligh's personal copy which is held by the State Library of New South Wales. The Resource and Vlydt logbooks were transcribed from images of the originals from the SLNSW. In the ebook, all abbreviations have been expanded, but other than that, the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation of the original are retained. Many unfamiliar terms and references are explained. Every crewman's full name and station aboard ship are inserted wherever he is mentioned. The correct spelling of places is inserted where known. This ebook contains every entry from Thursday, August 16, 1787, when "On the 16th August 1787 I had the Honor to receive my Appointment from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Command His Majestys Vessel Bounty, forthwith to put her in Commission and to use the utmost dispatch to complete her for a Voyage to remote parts," to Saturday, March 13, 1790, when, "Sunday PM or Saturday Afternoon by Civil Account I got an Isle of White Wight Boat and left the Packet Dutch ship Vlydt, at Midnight got to the George Hotel in Portsmouth and on Sunday 10 O'Clock in the forenoon 14th March took post Chaise for Town where I arrived that Night."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AVMTDY6/?tag=2022091-20
William Bligh was born on 9 September in 1754 in Plymouth, Devon, England, United Kingdom, where his father was a customs officer.
At 7 Bligh went to sea as a cabin boy.
In 1770 William Bligh joined the Royal Navy. Between 1776 and 1780 he was master of the Resolution on Capt. Cook's third voyage.
In 1787 the British government dispatched Bligh to Tahiti with the Bounty to collect breadfruit plants in order to provide cheap food for West Indian slaves. Reluctant to leave Tahiti, the crew, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied soon after departing from the island and cast Bligh adrift together with 18 supporters.
After an epic 6 weeks' voyage, Bligh reached Timor in the East Indies, having traveled 3, 618 miles in an open longboat. Honorably acquitted by a court-martial in 1790, he returned to Tahiti and successfully introduced breadfruit plants into the West Indies.
Between 1795 and 1802 Capt. Bligh saw action against the French at Camperdown and at Copenhagen, where he was commended by Nelson.
In the Nore mutiny of 1797 he was not charged with maltreating his crew and retained his command. Contributions to navigation and natural history resulted in his election as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1801. But Bligh's strong will, violent temper, and foul tongue totally eclipsed his attainments at times, and in 1805 he was reprimanded for using insulting language to a junior officer.
Sir Joseph Banks recommended Bligh's appointment as governor of New South Wales. Bligh arrived in 1806 with instructions to end the trading monopoly enjoyed by officers of the New South Wales Corps. The rum traffic was duly prohibited, other traders encouraged, and improved credit facilities offered to small farmers.
But the officer faction resisted attempts to enforce the law, and Bligh soon collided with the fanatical John Macarthur, who represented the governor as a brutal tyrant bent on destroying the liberties and property rights of Englishmen. When Bligh had Macarthur tried for sedition, the officers conspired to replace the governor by Maj. George Johnston, senior officer on the station. After holding office for only 17 months, Bligh was deposed in what became known as the Rum Rebellion.
At a subsequent court-martial in London, Johnston was dismissed from the service and by implication Bligh was exonerated although criticized for tactless behavior. At a time when opposition which centered on the colony's courts could easily be construed as subversion, Bligh was an unfortunate choice for governor because he lacked political sense, and in endeavoring to uphold the law he precipitated a crisis.
Bligh subsequently became an admiral. He retired to Kent and died in London on Dec. 17, 1817.
( Cast out from their ship by Fletcher Christian and his ...)
(The names William Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and the Boun...)
(William Bligh's account of the fatal voyage of the bounty...)
(This book was converted from its physical edition to the ...)
(I would like to be able to say, "It's all here." But eboo...)
(Book by William Bligh)
The Royal Society
William Bligh was a person of strong will, violent temper, and foul tongue.
Bligh married to Elizabeth Betham on 4 February in 1781. They had six children.