Media: BOOK - paperback, 226 pages
Author: J. Donohoe
Year: 2011
ISBN: 1875769420
Other: b&w photos, appendixes, index
Publisher: James Donohoe

When people hear the words Captain Bligh, and mutiny, they automatically think of “Mutiny on the Bounty”, which is where in 1789, 18 mutineers set Lieutenant Bligh and many of his loyal crew afloat in a small boat, then burned the HMS ‘Bounty’. What the mutineers didn't count on was Bligh and his crew surviving and being returned the England to share the tale.

This book is not about the ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’ but rather another of the four mutinies that Captain Bligh was involved in.

This story of the incident is based on two petitions dated 26th and 27th January 1808, these were addressed to the New South Wales Corps Commander, Major George Johnston. Largely organised by Major George Johnston’s partner Esther Abrahams, her daughter Rosanna and Rosanna’s husband Isaac Nichols, they collected the signatures from several hundred people, mostly their family friends who favoured Major Johnston arresting Captain William Bligh, Governor of the colony of New South Wales.

It shares the story of two powerful and colourful men Captain William Bligh RN and John Macarthur –both hellbent on mutual destruction.

Bligh was not the perfect governor, and held back the development of the New South Wales colony as a result. But his successor Major-General Lachlan Macquarie certainly got things happening when he was appointed in 1810, thanks to Bligh's removal!

This book embraces a copy of the actual petitions, together with almost one hundred biographies of the wives and partners of those who signed them. The inclusion of list of land grants made after William Bligh's arrival and prior to the arrival of Lachlan Macquarie shows the immediate impact of the Mutiny. Also listed are the members of the New South Wales Parliament who descended from families of the colony at the time of mutiny, most notably, descendant from the Petitioners.

Contents:
The Petition
Acknowledgements
An Analogy
Fallacies
Opinion
Overview
1. The Mutiny
2. Governor Bligh's Dream
3. Rising Tensions
4. Australia for Australians
5. The Phantom Revolution
6. The Petitioning
7. The Exclusives in William Bligh's Society
8. Captain William Bligh "Dictator"
9. The Plotters
10. The Blackheath Connection
11. The Power of Women
12. The Power of One Woman
13. Friends of William Bligh
14. William Bligh's Achievements as Governor of New South Wales
15. The Beer Rebellion
16. Under the Influence of Wine
17. Governor Bligh's Colonial Leadership
18. The Convict's Role
19. Mosaic of the Convict Era
20. The Aftermath
End Notes
Appendix 1. Diary of Events
Appendix 2. The Women
Appendix 3. The Petitions
Appendix 4. New South Wales Parliamentarians of Mutiny Families
Appendix 5. Land Grants Following the Mutiny, and Imperial System of Length/Area Measurement
Appendix 6. Royal Compensation
Appendix 7. The Exiles
Appendix 8. "Great Expectations" and the Mutiny
Index
Bibliography
Ship Arrivals
The Author