1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. In January, 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: we got an email from listener Ian and Ian suggested 5 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: an episode on the Rum Rebellion, and my first thought 6 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,400 Speaker 1: was didn't we do that already? And then I realized, no, 7 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: we did not. But I've had this exact experience more 8 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 1: than once when somebody has written in to suggest we 9 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: do an episode on the Rum Rebellion, and my first 10 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: thought has been, didn't we do that already? And I'm not, like, 11 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: I'm not confusing it with the Whiskey Rebellion or the 12 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,159 Speaker 1: Eggnog Riot, both of which we have talked about on 13 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:49,760 Speaker 1: the show, Like it's somehow in my head we have 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: talked about this specific incident, which was Australia's only military coup. 15 00:00:57,400 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: It was only given that nickname of the Rum Rebellion 16 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: much later. We have not talked about this before. We 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,919 Speaker 1: are finally remedying that today, So the next time somebody 18 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: suggested as a topic, we will have actually done it. 19 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: This time we can say with confidence check. So the 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,279 Speaker 1: Rum Rebellion overthrew William Bly, governor of New South Wales 21 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen o eight. And that name might sound familiar 22 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 1: to you. It is the same William Bly who lost 23 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: his ship, the HMS Bounty, to mutineers in seventy nine. 24 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: He had been on a voyage to the South Pacific 25 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,160 Speaker 1: to secure breadfruit plants, which were supposed to provide a 26 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: cheap food source for Britain's enslaved workforce in the Caribbean. 27 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: Previous hosts Katie and Sarah did an episode on this 28 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: in and we re released it as our most recent 29 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic. So we're not going to go back over 30 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: all of the details today, but there are some aspects 31 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: of it and of Bligh's later naval career which are 32 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: relevant to what happened in New South Wales. The biggest 33 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: was that this mutiny had tarnished Bligh's reputation in some circle. 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: Those people disparagingly called him things like Bounty Bly. This 35 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: wasn't entirely justified, though mutinies were so common in the 36 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: late eighteenth century that British captains who got back from 37 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: long voyages without having had one were praised for it, 38 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: and at first Blig's reputation after the mutiny was really 39 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: pretty positive. He had successfully navigated thousands of miles of 40 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,120 Speaker 1: ocean in this little open boat, saving the lives of 41 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: nearly every man who had been loyal to him. But then, 42 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 1: while he was out on his next voyage, which was 43 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: basically a do over of the one with the mutiny, 44 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,919 Speaker 1: some of the mutineers were caught and faced a court martial. 45 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: The mutineers and their supporters, particularly the family of ring 46 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: leader Edward Christian, circulated propaganda that depicted Bligh as a tyrant. 47 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: The mutineers court martial testimony was similarly damning, and Bli 48 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: was not there to fend himself. There was definitely a 49 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 1: lot of bickering and tension aboard the bounty. It had 50 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: been way too small for the task at hand, which 51 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: had inflamed the existing conflicts among the men, and Bli 52 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: himself wasn't necessarily that easy to get along with. He 53 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: was a stickler for rules, he could not abide slackness, 54 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: and he was known to have a temper. But at 55 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: the same time, Bli was considered to be more lenient 56 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: than most of his peers, who routinely disciplined sailors by 57 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: flogging them. Bli was more likely to yell at people 58 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: and call them demoralizing names accompanied by wild gesticulations. Verbal abuse, 59 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,960 Speaker 1: of course, is still abuse, but the unwritten standards of 60 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: behavior at sea were basically that this kind of treatment 61 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: was only unacceptable if it was also unwarranted. Bli continued 62 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: to command ships after the mutiny on the Bounty, and 63 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: in he faced an o their mutiny, but this time 64 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: it was not so much about Blithe's personal conduct as captain. 65 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: Sailors throughout the Royal Navy were dissatisfied with their pay, 66 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: generally poor condition aboard ships, including a really bad food. 67 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: Compounding that was the fact that many of the sailors 68 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: had been press ganged into serving the French. Revolutionary Wars 69 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: were ongoing at that point, and the sailors realized that 70 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: this threat meant that they had some leverage. In April 71 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty seven, the crews of multiple ships anchored 72 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 1: at Spithead off the southern coast of England mutinied and 73 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:40,600 Speaker 1: demanded better pay and working conditions. The Admiralty was afraid 74 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 1: that a French invasion was imminent and that they would 75 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: be defenseless if they didn't get everyone back to work, 76 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: so they ultimately met the mutineers demands and pardoned the ringleaders. 77 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:53,560 Speaker 1: Blithe Ship was not there for that mutiny, but he 78 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: was at the nor Anchorage in command of the HMS Director. 79 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: In May of seventeen eighty seven, sailors inspired by what 80 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: happened at Spithead mutinied aboard the HMS Sandwich, and soon 81 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: this mutiny spread to every ship at the North. This time, 82 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: the mutineers had much more ambitious demands, like Shorely, in 83 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: a different system for distributing money anytime a ship took 84 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: a prize. At first, Bligh's crew aboard the Director did 85 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: not join the mutiny, although they did try to get 86 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: him to relieve three particular unpopular officers of duty, but 87 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: they eventually rose up and put him off the ship. 88 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: At two different points, men on board who were still 89 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 1: loyal to him tried and failed to retake the director. 90 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: The norm mutiny finally collapsed, leading to four hundred courts 91 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: martial and the hanging of purported ringleader Richard Parker from 92 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: the yard arm of the Sandwich. Parker had not actually 93 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,719 Speaker 1: organized the mutiny, but he had been elected as its leader, 94 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:59,599 Speaker 1: and he had become something of a public scapegoat, similar 95 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,919 Speaker 1: to what happened to Bligh after the mutiny on the Bounty. 96 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: Parker's involvement and his demeanor were really highly sensationalized in 97 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: the press. Even though mutiny was a capital offense, Bli 98 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: advocated for his crew to be treated leniently. Thirty six 99 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:18,919 Speaker 1: men were hanged after the norm mutiny, but none of 100 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: them were from the director. Blie's ship saw combat at 101 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: various points after this. He was at the Battle of 102 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: Copenhagen in eighteen o one, after which Admiral Nelson invited 103 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: him aboard the HMS Elephant and thanked him personally for 104 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: his service. That same year, Bligh was also elected a 105 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: Fellow of the Royal Society based on his work as 106 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,840 Speaker 1: an ethnographer and a naturalist during his specific voyages. In 107 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: February eighteen o five, an officer under Bligh's command filed 108 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: a formal complaint about his conduct. The officer had been injured, 109 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:54,800 Speaker 1: in his account, too badly to report for duty, but 110 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: in Bligh's opinion, the officer was fit to work, so 111 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: when he did not report, Bli accused him of neglecting 112 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: his duty. The officers complaints said that Bligh had quote 113 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: grossly insulted and ill treated him, and that he was 114 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: behaving in a quote tyrannical and oppressive and unofficer like manner. 115 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,480 Speaker 1: Bli was reprimanded and then ordered to improve his language. 116 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: Bli was offered the appointment to be Governor of New 117 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: South Wales on March fifteenth, eighteen o five, so not 118 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: long at all after this reprimand happened. Wealthy explorer and 119 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: naturalists Sir Joseph Banks, who had also been the one 120 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: who recommended that Blige go on those breadfruit voyages, had 121 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: recommended him for this post. It took a while before 122 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: Bli actually set sail. He left for Australia aboard the 123 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: HMS Porpoise in February eighteen o six. His wife, Elizabeth 124 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: and five of their six daughters stayed behind. Coming with 125 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: him were his oldest daughter Mary and her husband, Lieutenant 126 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: John Putland. Mary would essentially fill the role of First 127 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: Lady in Sydney. Apparently, Bli, who was used to being 128 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: in command at this point, bickered with Commander Joseph Short, 129 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: who was actually in command of the Purpoise the entire 130 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: way to Australia. We're going to talk about more of this, 131 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:25,679 Speaker 1: including more bickering. After we first paused for a sponsor break, 132 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: Britain established the colony of New South Wales in the 133 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 1: continent of Australia's Aboriginal population at that time is pretty 134 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: hard to estimate, but it was probably somewhere between seven 135 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty thousand and one point to five million 136 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: people because people represented at least five hundred different tribal 137 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: and language groups. In the ten years after New South 138 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 1: Wales was established, roughly nine of the Aboriginal and tourist 139 00:08:55,240 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: Strait Islander population was killed through introduced diseases, law of 140 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,080 Speaker 1: access to land, and violence. And that it was just 141 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: another about ten years after that that this incident happened. 142 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: Britain's intent when establishing New South Wales was for it 143 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: to be a penal colony. At this point in British history, 144 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 1: prisons were overflowing. The Industrial Revolution had led to a 145 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: spike in crime as industries became more mechanized and workers 146 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: lost their jobs. Britain had also passed an incredibly strict 147 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: penal code, and trials generally favored the prosecution. All of 148 00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: this together meant that Britain convicted far more people than 149 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: it could house. Before the American Revolution, Britain had sent 150 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: prisoners to its North American colonies. After the revolution, it 151 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: needed another alternative, and that was Australia. The most serious 152 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: crimes were punishable by death, so most people being transported 153 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: to Australia had been convicted of things like robbery, theft, 154 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: and fraud. Some of them in terms of the specific crime, 155 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: were very minor. Once in Australia, yet people would spend 156 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,319 Speaker 1: the duration of their sentence in forced labor. The length 157 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: of the sentence was typically seven or fourteen years, but 158 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 1: it could be for life. After a person served their sentence, 159 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:14,199 Speaker 1: they were theoretically free to return to Britain, but most 160 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 1: stayed in Australia. The passage back was long and expensive, 161 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,200 Speaker 1: and after spending seven or fourteen years in Australia, a 162 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: lot of people had established homes and families there. In theory, 163 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: here's how New South Wales was supposed to be managed. 164 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: The Governor was the British government's representative in the colony, 165 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: and he worked under the direction of the government in London. 166 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: The New South Wales Corps was an army regiment that 167 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 1: had arrived with the second fleet in seventeen and it 168 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,240 Speaker 1: was supposed to support the governor who was ultimately in charge, 169 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: but by the time Bly arrived on August six, eighteen 170 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: oh six, that was not how things were going in practice. 171 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: At a couple of earlier points, the military had taken 172 00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 1: control of the colony in the absence of a governor, 173 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: and especially during those periods, the New South Wales Corp 174 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: had become more and more powerful. This included establishing monopolies 175 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: on the trade of various goods. The colony did not 176 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,839 Speaker 1: have enough currency to handle people's everyday purchases, so most 177 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,840 Speaker 1: business was being done through barter or through promissory notes basically. 178 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:25,679 Speaker 1: Io use spirits, especially rum, became the most widely bartered 179 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: good and thanks to rum being used as currency, there 180 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,560 Speaker 1: was also a lot of drunkenness, although there were some 181 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:36,080 Speaker 1: illicit stills in Australia. The vast majority of this rum 182 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: had to be imported, and the New South Wales Core 183 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: had a monopoly on those imports. Officers jacked up the 184 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: price on this imported rum, turning a profit of as 185 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: much as five d percent. The New South Wales Core 186 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: was so tangled up in all of this that it 187 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: was nicknamed the Rum Corps. Over these two decades of 188 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: the colony's existence, the military itself had also become a 189 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: little lax. Scipline had become a lot less strict soldiers. 190 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: Living arrangements had also shifted. Of about three hundred men 191 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: who were garrisoned in Sydney, only about a hundred and 192 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 1: twenty state at the barracks. The rest of them weren't 193 00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: in any kind of formalized military housing. They were just 194 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: scattered throughout the town wherever they wanted to live. A 195 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: lot of them also picked up other trade or business efforts. 196 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: Sometimes they ran these with the help of their wives. 197 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: And then, on top of all of that, the colonies 198 00:12:27,600 --> 00:12:32,680 Speaker 1: first governors were all navy officers, not army officers, and 199 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:34,840 Speaker 1: that just irked a lot of the people in the core. 200 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: There was also a lot of social division within the colony. 201 00:12:39,679 --> 00:12:44,599 Speaker 1: Europeans in Australia fell broadly into two camps, the exclusives, 202 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: who were the military, former military and free settlers, and 203 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: the emancipists who had been convicted and transported. Exclusives generally 204 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,959 Speaker 1: thought emancipists did not deserve equal rights. Even after finishing 205 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: their sentence, and they worked to keep hour and wealth 206 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,400 Speaker 1: for themselves. At the same time, the enlisted men of 207 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: the New South Wales Corps and the people who were 208 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: serving sentences in Australia often had a lot in common. 209 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: The military included a lot of workers who had lost 210 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: their jobs to mechanization, and they had enlisted because they 211 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 1: didn't really have any other options. Whether they were conscious 212 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: of it or not, They expected that they would be 213 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,760 Speaker 1: treated better than the colonies convicted criminals, many of whom 214 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: had very similar backgrounds to their own except for having 215 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: been convicted of a crime. That treatment that soldiers felt 216 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 1: they were entitled to included being afforded basic respect by 217 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,320 Speaker 1: their commanding officers. So in this context, Bligh's tendency to 218 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:51,120 Speaker 1: scream demoralizing insults at people, especially in cases where people 219 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:53,679 Speaker 1: did not feel like that screaming had been warranted like that, 220 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: was particularly rankling. Before Bligh got to Australia, two previous 221 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,439 Speaker 1: governors had each and tasked with restoring the balance between 222 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: the military and the civil government, as well as cleaning 223 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,600 Speaker 1: up corruption and generally getting the colony in order. Neither 224 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: had been able to do it, and both had been 225 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:17,200 Speaker 1: recalled by England. Bli's immediate predecessor, Governor Philip Gidley King, 226 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: had written quote, there is no society where the clashing 227 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 1: of duty and interests between the governor and the governed 228 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: are more violent than in New South Wales, and more 229 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: particularly so if the governor does his duty, much bearance 230 00:14:30,560 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: and forebearance has been reciprocally necessary between the Governor and 231 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: the officers. These two prior governors, there were other governors 232 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: before that, but the two immediately before Governor Bligh. They 233 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 1: had also repeatedly tangled with one of New South wales 234 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: most influential residents, and that was John MacArthur. MacArthur had 235 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: been in the New South Wales Corps but had become 236 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: a prominent landowner as well. After injuring his commanding officer, 237 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: Lieutenant Governor William Patterson, in a duel, he had been 238 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,080 Speaker 1: sent to England to stand trial. The reason for this 239 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: duel was that Governor King had threatened any officer who 240 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: traded in spirits with a court martial, and when most 241 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: of the officers started boycotting any kind of social or 242 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,120 Speaker 1: official interaction with King in response, Patterson had refused to 243 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: participate in this nonsense. Although MacArthur was never actually tried 244 00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: for this, he did get wealthy investors to pack his 245 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: plan to start a wool business while he was in Britain, 246 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: and he got a grant of five thousand acres of 247 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: land to do it with. MacArthur resigned from the New 248 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: South Wales Corps, got sheep from the Royal Stock and 249 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: returned to Australia to get this business started. Here is 250 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 1: Governor King's description of MacArthur quote. His employment during the 251 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: eleven years he has been here has been that of 252 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: making a large fortune, helping his brother officers to make 253 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: small ones, mostly at the public expense, and sewing discord 254 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: and strife. Experience has convinced every man in this colony 255 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: that there are no resources which art, cutting, impudence and 256 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: a pair of basilisk eyes can afford. That he does 257 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: not put in practice to obtain any point he undertakes. 258 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: Because of this another similar behavior, MacArthur would eventually be 259 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: nicknamed the Great Perturbator. When Sir Joseph Banks recommended William 260 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: Bligh for this job, he was seeing Blige's reputation as 261 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: an asset, not a liability, being a stickler for rules 262 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: with a temper and an abhorrence of slackness had all 263 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: caused problems aboard Blige ships, But when it came to 264 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: the problems in New South Wales, Banks thought that they 265 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: made him the right man for the job. After Bly 266 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: arrived there, he was given a statement of welcome signed 267 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,720 Speaker 1: by George Johnston on behalf of the military, Richard Atkins 268 00:16:56,720 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: on behalf of the civil authorities, and John MacArthur on 269 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: behalf of the free inhabitants. But then afterward Bli also 270 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: received a petition that had been signed by almost four 271 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: hundred of the colonies free inhabitants, which read, in part quote, 272 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:16,280 Speaker 1: had we deputed anyone, John MacArthur would not have been 273 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: chosen by us, we considering him an unfit person to 274 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: step forward on such occasion. As we may chiefly attribute 275 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: the rise in the price of mutton to his withholding 276 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: the large flock of weathers, he now has to make 277 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: such price as he may choose to demand. It's all 278 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:39,480 Speaker 1: so much bickering. Bli spent his first six months in Australia, 279 00:17:39,720 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: mostly familiarizing himself with the colony and what was going on. 280 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:47,919 Speaker 1: About seven thousand Europeans lived there, about fourteen hundred, of 281 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: whom were women. About hundred eighty of the colony's residents 282 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,919 Speaker 1: were serving a sentence, and aside from the drunken lawlessness, 283 00:17:55,960 --> 00:18:00,159 Speaker 1: the colony was struggling. The Hawkesbury floods had destroyed a 284 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: lot of the crops and killed many livestock. Supply ships 285 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: had been delayed or had not arrived at all. And 286 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: even though this whole operation was supposed to benefit from 287 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: the forced labor of convicted criminals, there had been no 288 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: new arrivals in eighteen o five, and only five hundred 289 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: fifty between eighteen o six and eighteen o seven. This 290 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: wasn't even enough to replace the people who had been 291 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: released after finishing their sentences. In early eighteen o seven, 292 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,239 Speaker 1: Blast started instituting reforms. Can imagine how this is going 293 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 1: to go, and we will get to it after a 294 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: sponsor break. William Blas started announcing his biggest reforms in 295 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:49,200 Speaker 1: New South Wales in early eighteen o seven. In January, 296 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: he ordered that promissory notes would be payable in sterling money. Previously, 297 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: most promissory notes had been payable in wheat, and the 298 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,760 Speaker 1: price of wheat fluctuated, sometimes times really dramatically. This led 299 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,040 Speaker 1: to a court case in which John MacArthur tried to 300 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: cash in a note based on the volume of wheat 301 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: and not the value of the wheat. After prices had 302 00:19:14,480 --> 00:19:19,399 Speaker 1: skyrocketed following the Hawkesbury floods. BLI had already tried to 303 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: bam bartering in general, and in February of eighteen oh 304 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: seven he banned quote the exchange of spirits or other 305 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: liquors as payment for grain, animal food, labor, wearing apparel, 306 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: or any other commodity whatever. In other words, no more 307 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: using Rama's currency. He also set a price cap on alcohol, 308 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 1: which discouraged people from importing it since they could no 309 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:45,639 Speaker 1: longer make such a giant profit, and he banned the 310 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: importation of stills. Two stills arrived on a ship on 311 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: March nine, one of which belonged to John MacArthur, and 312 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: BLI had those stills impounded and then returned to England. 313 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,959 Speaker 1: Bli also started quest land grants that seemed suspicious to 314 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 1: him that a lot of people were given land grants, 315 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,600 Speaker 1: especially military officers and civil authorities, as basically as a reward. 316 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: He butted heads with John MacArthur about the location of 317 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 1: those five thousand acres that he had been granted for 318 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 1: his wolf arm. The grant did not specify where those 319 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,679 Speaker 1: acres should be, and MacArthur insisted that they be in 320 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: the best grazing land known in the colony at the time. Meanwhile, 321 00:20:31,720 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: Bly also received some land grants of his own, and 322 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: he farmed them at the government's expense and using public resources. 323 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: That led people to accuse him of hypocrisy. Bligh's insistence 324 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:48,560 Speaker 1: on following rules and procedures also just raised people's hackles. 325 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,159 Speaker 1: He would only acknowledge land grants if he got official 326 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 1: approval from London. Recommendations from the Privy Council or the 327 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: Secretary of State were not enough, even though it had 328 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 1: been for his adecessors. Governor King had also granted Lesa's 329 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,199 Speaker 1: to town land, something the colonies first Governor, Arthur Philip 330 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:11,159 Speaker 1: had prohibited. Bly evicted people from land that they had 331 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,880 Speaker 1: least under Governor King, including tearing down some of their 332 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: homes and arguing that the leases were not valid based 333 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: on that earlier policy. Basically, Blin made a whole lot 334 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: of changes that made people angry, especially the colony's wealthiest 335 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: and most powerful. He was not diplomatic about it. And 336 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: some of his efforts probably made things harder for everybody, 337 00:21:33,560 --> 00:21:38,560 Speaker 1: like banning bartering in a colony that didn't have enough currency. 338 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: But he was also doing what he had been sent 339 00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:46,320 Speaker 1: there to do, which two more accommodating predecessors had failed 340 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: to do. In June of eighteen oh seven, John Horr, 341 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: who was serving a sentence for mutiny, stowed away on 342 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: the Paramatta, which was co owned by once again John MacArthur. 343 00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: He's like the lynchpin of this whole story. He real 344 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 1: every single twist and terror is like you open the 345 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,919 Speaker 1: door and there's John MacArthur. Sean MacArthur seems like a 346 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: real piece of work. There was an eight hundred pound 347 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: penalty for allowing someone to escape aboard a ship, but 348 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: MacArthur refused to pay it. Instead, he disavowed all responsibility 349 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: for the Paramounta and its contents and crew, effectively abandoning it, 350 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: and that meant that once it arrived back in Sydney 351 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: the following November, the crew would not be paid and 352 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,119 Speaker 1: the ship would not be provisioned. When the PARAMOUNTA arrived 353 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: in port, it was impounded and its crew were forbidden 354 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: to leave the ship. Although many of them disembarked anyway. Yeah, 355 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: he basically just walked away from a ship that was 356 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: worth so much more than that eight hundred pound bond, 357 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:52,439 Speaker 1: so much more, uh why demanded that MacArthur answer for 358 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: this behavior, and Judge Richard Atkins issued a summons for 359 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: him to appear in court. A trial date was set 360 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: for January eight, but MacArthur refused to have Atkins preside 361 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: over his case, citing all kinds of reasons, including the 362 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:14,240 Speaker 1: fact that Atkins owed him money. Then MacArthur rallied the jury, 363 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: all of whom were officers in the New South Wales 364 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,439 Speaker 1: Core which MacArthur had previously been a member of. He 365 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:24,360 Speaker 1: rallied them all to refuse to accept atkins authority over 366 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: the court proceedings. This was not the first time that 367 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,879 Speaker 1: a jury of officers had pulled this kind of a stunt, 368 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: and under Governor King it had worked and they had 369 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,399 Speaker 1: gotten a different person to preside over the court. But 370 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,240 Speaker 1: BLI was not having this and Atkins walked out, So 371 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: this was a complete impasse. Bly sent for Major George Johnston, 372 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,040 Speaker 1: who was at his house outside of town, asking him 373 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,679 Speaker 1: to come to the Government House to discuss the situation. 374 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,000 Speaker 1: Johnston was filling in for Lieutenant Colonel William Patterson, who 375 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:57,359 Speaker 1: was in command of the New South Wales Corps but 376 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:01,120 Speaker 1: was away at Port Dalrympole. But Anston had been injured 377 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,200 Speaker 1: after falling off a horse the night before and responded 378 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: that he was too ill to come. He also said 379 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: he was too ill to return a written correspondence on 380 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:14,320 Speaker 1: the matter. Yeah, there's some speculation that maybe this influenced 381 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: his judgment. When Patterson refused to participate in any kind 382 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: of negotiations, Bly had MacArthur imprisoned and he threatened to 383 00:24:22,359 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: charge these six officers who had been on the jury 384 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 1: with treason. Treason was a capital offense. Johnston heard about 385 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: this and he thought that if Bli carried through on 386 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:36,480 Speaker 1: the threat, the enlisted men would riot. He would later 387 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,400 Speaker 1: maintain that this led him to take Bligh into custody 388 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,800 Speaker 1: for his own protection. At the same time, though it 389 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:46,240 Speaker 1: was already clear that Johnston had no confidence in Blige's 390 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 1: abilities or in his relationship with the Core. He had 391 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,480 Speaker 1: filed a formal complaint in October of eighteen oh seven, 392 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: which read, in part quote Governor Bligh seems ignorant of 393 00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: any instructions or rules whatever, but such as our dictated 394 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: by the violent passion of the moment. Although Johnston had 395 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: said he was too ill to meet with or right 396 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:11,920 Speaker 1: to bly on January on the just the next day, 397 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: he was well enough to travel to Sydney, demand MacArthur 398 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: be released from jail, name himself Lieutenant Governor, and lead 399 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: nearly the entire New South Wales Core Garrison in Sydney 400 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 1: to march on the Government House. This was twenty years 401 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: to the day after the first fleet had arrived in 402 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: Sydney Harbor. The soldiers marched to the Government House to 403 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: the tune of British grenadiers, and they drew a giant 404 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: crowd of spectators as they went. When they got to 405 00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: the Government House, they placed Bli and his daughter Mary, 406 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: whose husband had previously died of tuberculosis, under house arrest. 407 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: Only one person was injured in all this, and that 408 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: was Thomas Laycock, who fell through a man hole while 409 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 1: he was searching for Bli. There's a widely circulated story, 410 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 1: along with many cartoon depictions, that Bligh was found hiding 411 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,040 Speaker 1: under a bed. That is almost certainly something that the 412 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: Core made up. It doesn't seem like him to be 413 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:13,560 Speaker 1: hiding under a bed apart from everything else, how could 414 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: he gesticulate uh MacArthur also drew up a petition that read, quote, 415 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,800 Speaker 1: the present alarming state of this colony, in which every 416 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: man's property, liberty, and life is endangered, induces us most 417 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:29,880 Speaker 1: earnestly to implore you instantly to place Governor bly under 418 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,200 Speaker 1: arrest and to assume the command of the colony. We 419 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,360 Speaker 1: pledge ourselves, at a moment of less agitation, to come 420 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: forward to support the measure with our fortunes and our lives. 421 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: This had a hundred and fifty one signatures. However, almost 422 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:49,159 Speaker 1: all of those signatures were from after the coup that 423 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:54,760 Speaker 1: Johnston dismissed Atkins from the bench and also replaced most 424 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: of Bligh's appointees, including arresting some of his most vocal supporters. 425 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: He issued a statement that read, in part quote, in future, 426 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: no man shall have just cause to complain of violence, 427 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,440 Speaker 1: injuice or oppression. No free man shall be taken, imprisoned, 428 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:14,520 Speaker 1: or deprived of his house, land, or liberty. But by 429 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: the law justice shall be impartially administers, without regard to 430 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: or respective persons, and every man shall enjoy the fruits 431 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:28,000 Speaker 1: of his industry in security. There were wild celebrations that night, 432 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: including people burning Bligh in effigy. On January, John MacArthur's 433 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,719 Speaker 1: trial resumed, but there was no prosecutor, so this was 434 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: really not a particularly serious proceeding. MacArthur was of course acquitted, 435 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: and afterward Johnston named him Colonial Secretary. In July of 436 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: eighteen o eight, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Fauveau arrived from England, 437 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,440 Speaker 1: and since he was senior to Johnston, he took command 438 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: of the new South Wales Corps. Blithe spent more than 439 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: a year under house arrest, refusing to return to England 440 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,040 Speaker 1: without being officially relieved of duty. In January of eighteen 441 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: o nine, Lieutenant Colonel Patterson returned to Sydney at Povo's request. 442 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: Patterson did not restore Bligh to the governorship, though instead 443 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: he insisted that Blag go back to London and take 444 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,919 Speaker 1: up the matter there. Bly was finally freed from the 445 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,040 Speaker 1: Government House in March of eighteen o nine and allowed 446 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: to leave aboard the HMS Porpoise. Although he assured his 447 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: former captors he was returning to London, he instead sailed 448 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 1: to Hobart, Australia, with the hope of rallying support to 449 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: take back the government of New South Wales. He did 450 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,160 Speaker 1: not succeed, and he spent most of the next several 451 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,160 Speaker 1: months at anchor aboard the Porpoise, continually worrying whether his 452 00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: food might be poisoned. Meanwhile, MacArthur and Johnston also left. 453 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: They actually did go to London, though they left on 454 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: March thirty one, eighteen o nine. They were hoping to 455 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:01,920 Speaker 1: get to London before Blige did because they didn't know 456 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 1: that he had changed course for Hobart. They wanted to 457 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: lay the groundwork for their defense before Bligh got there. 458 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,120 Speaker 1: Word of the coup had reached London in September of 459 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,960 Speaker 1: eighteen o eight, and Scottish Army officer Lachlin mcquarie was 460 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: dispatched to New South Wales to restore order. He was 461 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 1: the first army officer appointed governor of New South Wales. 462 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: He arrived on December thirty one, eighteen o nine. Although 463 00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:30,480 Speaker 1: he ordered that Blige be reinstated as governor for twenty 464 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:34,240 Speaker 1: four hours before he took control, Bligh was still in Hobart, 465 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 1: so this did not actually happen. McQuary quickly got to 466 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,960 Speaker 1: work undoing some of what Johnston had done, including a 467 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: voiding land leases that had been issued while he was 468 00:29:44,200 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: controlling the colony, but he also issued a proclamation stating 469 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 1: that people who had been appointed to office during that 470 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: time would be immune to prosecution. Blig got back to 471 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: Sydney in early eighteen ten and then returned to London 472 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: for the court martial of George Johnston. Johnston was convicted 473 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:06,120 Speaker 1: of mutiny in extenuating circumstances and cashiered that's a formal 474 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: dismissal from his military service. This was a light sentence, 475 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,120 Speaker 1: considering that he had led a military coup against a 476 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: lawfully appointed governor based on his previous service. He was 477 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: given passage back to New South Wales and he died 478 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: there in eighty three. Johnston's defense had been that his 479 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:30,280 Speaker 1: actions were justified, so his conviction also cleared Bly of wrongdoing. 480 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:36,080 Speaker 1: Mostly The court martial's commander in chief described Blige's conduct 481 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:42,080 Speaker 1: as having quote circumstances of impropriety and oppression, but in 482 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: the court martial's verdict, this was not enough to justify 483 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,720 Speaker 1: the coup. Because MacArthur had previously resigned from the New 484 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: South Wales Corps, he couldn't be court martialed, he had 485 00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,120 Speaker 1: to face a civilian trial back in Australia. McQuary ordered 486 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: that he'd be arrested on site, so MacArthur stayed in 487 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: England while his wife Elizabeth managed the wool business in Australia. 488 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:08,120 Speaker 1: He was finally allowed to return in eighteen seventeen. He 489 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council in 490 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty five, at which point McQuary was no longer 491 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: in office. MacArthur had been prone to what was described 492 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,760 Speaker 1: as melancolia during his life, and in his last years 493 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,920 Speaker 1: he started to experience delusions. He was declared insane in 494 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty two, and he died in eighteen thirty four. 495 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: Similarly to how there's some speculation about whether Johnston's injury 496 00:31:31,880 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: had affected his judgment, there's also some speculation about whether 497 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: MacArthur's mental health affected his behavior and all the things 498 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,360 Speaker 1: we've talked about so far. When blythe took the position 499 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: of governor in New South Wales, it was agreed that 500 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: it would not affect his seniority or routine promotions. In 501 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,160 Speaker 1: eighteen eleven, he was promoted to rear admiral of the Blue, 502 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,239 Speaker 1: which was backdated to eighteen ten. That was when he 503 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,880 Speaker 1: was actually due for that promotion. In eighteen fourteen, he 504 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,880 Speaker 1: was promoted to Vice Admiral. He never took command of 505 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: another ship, though Bly eventually retired to Kent. He died 506 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: on December seventh, eighteen seventeen. His tombstone reads quote sacred 507 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: to the memory of William Bly, Esquire f r s. 508 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: Vice Admiral of the Blue, the celebrated navigator who first 509 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: transplanted the breadfruit trees from Otahiti to the West Indies, 510 00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: bravely fought the battles of his country, and died beloved, 511 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: respected and lamented on the seventh day of December eighteen seventeen, 512 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 1: aged sixty four. Does not mention that he was ever 513 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:37,920 Speaker 1: governor of New South Wales. As for the New South 514 00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: Wales Corps, it did not last long. After overthrowing Governor 515 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:44,960 Speaker 1: William Bly in eighteen o nine, it was renamed the 516 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: hundred and second Regiment of the Line and it was 517 00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: ultimately recalled to England. About half its former members elected 518 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,560 Speaker 1: to stay in Australia, many of whom joined the seventy 519 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: third Regiment. The rest departed for England in May of 520 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: eighteen ten. When seventy three Regiment left Australia in eighteen fourteen, 521 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: most of the members who had been part of the 522 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,200 Speaker 1: New South Wales Corp became part of the Royal Veteran Corps. 523 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,200 Speaker 1: The Royal Veteran Corps was disbanded in eighteen three because 524 00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: quote the expense of so many old soldiers was too 525 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: heavy for the government to bear. That is the rum 526 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:27,360 Speaker 1: rebellion which has so much bickering and ridiculousness. It really does. Uh. 527 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,040 Speaker 1: Do you have listener mail that may or may not 528 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: involve bickering or ridiculousness. It doesn't involve bickering or ridiculousness, 529 00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: but it does, uh. It involves Australia. It's from Sarah. 530 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:42,920 Speaker 1: Sarah says, high ladies. Here in Australia we have a 531 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 1: very well loved children's book series called Snugglepot and cuttle 532 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: Pie from the early nineteen hundreds. It's characters are gum 533 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,880 Speaker 1: nut babies and native animals. During the Spanish flu pandemic, 534 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 1: the author May Gibbs made this very cute cartoon in 535 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 1: nineteen nineteen of a caberra and a gum nut baby 536 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: wearing masks made of gum leaves. I thought you might 537 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: enjoy seeing them that resurface last year and is just 538 00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,120 Speaker 1: as cute and relevant for kids now as it was then. 539 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:13,719 Speaker 1: Thank you for your episodes and reflections on the pandemic. 540 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:16,759 Speaker 1: Things seem quite different down here with life pretty much 541 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,480 Speaker 1: back to normal, but I really appreciate listening to you 542 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,960 Speaker 1: both on my walks, and they make housework palatable. Ha 543 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:26,800 Speaker 1: ha Love from Sydney, Sarah. So Sara sent uh this. 544 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: It's an adorable cartoon and it looks familiar to me, 545 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:33,200 Speaker 1: even though I don't really think I had ever heard 546 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: of this series before. Um. I don't know if we 547 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: will at some point do an episode on the author, 548 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:42,520 Speaker 1: but I got very fascinated reading about that. And it 549 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:45,440 Speaker 1: is this cooka bara that's sitting on a branch with 550 00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 1: a a mask made out of a leaf, next to 551 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: a little naked baby, also with a mask made out 552 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:56,719 Speaker 1: of a leaf. Um, it's precious. So thank you so 553 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,279 Speaker 1: much for sending that and allowing me to say Kuka 554 00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,400 Speaker 1: barra the way that it is apparently actually said, and 555 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: not the way we learned it when I was in 556 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,359 Speaker 1: an elementary school in a song that I practiced over 557 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,480 Speaker 1: and over and over. Where which was we said at 558 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:15,520 Speaker 1: Kukabera Cuckabera sits in the old gum tree, Mary Mary 559 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: King and the bushes. He uh, apparently wrong. I did not. 560 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,279 Speaker 1: I'm not going to say it because I sing terribly well. 561 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: I remember we pad it in a PTA meeting. We 562 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:28,880 Speaker 1: sang the song about the Kuka Barra, which is apparently 563 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:34,480 Speaker 1: really said couca bra subtle shift. Yeah. I got a 564 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,239 Speaker 1: lot of email about it the last time I said 565 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: cucka Barra on the show for some reason. Anyway, thanks 566 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:49,720 Speaker 1: for suggesting of the topic of the rum rebellion Ean, 567 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:54,320 Speaker 1: and thanks for this email and the very adorable cartoon, Sarah. 568 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:57,200 Speaker 1: If you would like to write us about this or 569 00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,759 Speaker 1: any other podcast or at history podcast that I heart 570 00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:02,200 Speaker 1: rate dot com and we're all over social media at 571 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:04,760 Speaker 1: miss in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, 572 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Hey, maybe I'll see if we can put 573 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 1: a link to this picture on our social bump bump bum. 574 00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:16,800 Speaker 1: You can subscribe to our show on Apple podcast and 575 00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:18,839 Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app and anywhere else you get 576 00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:26,840 Speaker 1: your podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class is a 577 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: production of I Heart radio. For more podcasts from I 578 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or 579 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.