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Historical person

William Bligh

1754–1817

William Bligh was a British naval officer best known for the mutiny on HMS Bounty in 1789. He later served as governor of New South Wales, where conflict with local elites led to the Rum Rebellion.

After the Bounty mutineers cast Bligh and eighteen loyalists adrift, he navigated the overloaded open launch for roughly 3,600 nautical miles to Timor, an extraordinary feat of seamanship that helped restore his professional reputation. A court martial acquitted him of responsibility for the loss of the ship, and he continued a substantial naval career, including service in the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. His later governorship of New South Wales ended when opponents in the colony’s military establishment arrested him during the Rum Rebellion of 1808.

In John Boyne’s Mutiny on the Bounty, as the ship sails for Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants, he learns naval discipline under Lieutenant William Bligh and observes the tensions created by a long voyage, harsh punishment, dangerous seas and the crew’s extended stay in the Pacific. In Richard Woodman’s A Brief History of Mutiny, Captain Bligh was neither tyrant nor sadist -- whereas Pigot of the Hermione was both. William Bligh is treated fictionally in Alexander Kent’s Passage to Mutiny and Patrick O’Brian’s Desolation Island.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring William Bligh (2 series)

Aubrey–Maturin Novels in Order

by Patrick O’Brian 21 books 4.5(73,173)

The Aubrey–Maturin novels follow Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and surgeon, naturalist and intelligence agent Stephen Maturin from the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France through the War of 1812 and the first years after Waterloo. Across twenty completed novels, their friendship links shipboard command, espionage, science, domestic…

All books in this series

1. Master and Commander

First published 1969 · 4.4(10,142)

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2. Post Captain

First published 1972 · 4.4(5,748)

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3. HMS Surprise

First published 1973 · 4.6(5,014)

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4. The Mauritius Command

First published 1977 · 4.6(4,116)

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5. Desolation Island

First published 1978 · 4.6(3,618)

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6. The Fortune of War

First published 1979 · 4.6(3,678)

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7. The Surgeon’s Mate

First published 1980 · 4.6(3,374)

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8. The Ionian Mission

First published 1981 · 4.5(3,274)

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9. Treason’s Harbour

First published 1983 · 4.6(3,073)

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10. The Far Side of the World

First published 1984 · 4.6(3,024)

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11. The Reverse of the Medal

First published 1986 · 4.6(2,710)

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12. The Letter of Marque

First published 1988 · 4.7(2,902)

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13. The Thirteen-Gun Salute

First published 1989 · 4.6(2,489)

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14. The Nutmeg of Consolation

First published 1991 · 4.6(3,196)

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15. Clarissa Oakes

First published 1992 · 4.6(1,712)

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16. The Wine-Dark Sea

First published 1993 · 4.5(2,668)

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17. The Commodore

First published 1994 · 4.6(2,777)

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18. The Yellow Admiral

First published 1996 · 4.6(2,315)

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19. The Hundred Days

First published 1998 · 4.6(2,822)

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20. Blue at the Mizzen

First published 1999 · 4.5(2,735)

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The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey cover

21. The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey

4.0(1,786)

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Richard Bolitho in Order

by Alexander Kent 28 books 4.5(44,733)

The Richard Bolitho novels follow a Cornish Royal Navy officer from his years as a midshipman in 1772 through the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812. Richard rises from junior officer to admiral while the series examines command, discipline, loyalty…