biography
pronunciation:
[bliy]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (c.1754–c.1817)
|
| biography:
| British Naval officer, born in Plymouth, Devon, SW England, UK. He went to sea at the age of 15, sailed under Captain Cook on his third world voyage, and in 1787 was chosen by Sir Joseph Banks to command HMS Bounty on a voyage to Tahiti to collect plants of the bread-fruit tree. During a six-month stay on the island the men became demoralized, and on 28 April 1789 the first mate, Fletcher Christian, led a mutiny; Bligh and 18 of his men were cast adrift in an open boat with a small stock of provisions and no chart. They reached Timor, in the East Indies, on 14 June, having travelled nearly 4000 mi. In 1805 he was appointed Governor of New South Wales, and was imprisoned by mutinous soldiers during the so-called ‘Rum Rebellion’ (1808–10). Exonerated of all blame, he was promoted admiral on his retirement in 1811. |
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