54 – Bligh & the Rum Rebellion: Part 3

We reflect on the reforms Bligh had introduced and note the rising aggravation amongst the ‘trading group’, who were beginning to lose some of their previous dodgy income streams and privileged arrangements.  Many were challenging Bligh’s authority, particularity through the courts and with appeals directly to England, and as tensions escalate, we begin to see the path to rebellion opening up.  Macarthur and his friend George Johnston, commander of the New South Wales ‘Rum’ Corp, are stirred to action.

(61 mins)



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Commander George Johnston by Robert Dighton (NMA)
Proclamation of Martial Law (Lindsay Raymond)
Sydney from west side of the cove 1802 (George Evans SLM)

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REFERENCES:

DAVIS, Russell Earls, 2010. Bligh in Australia. 1st ed. Warriewood, N.S.W.: Woodslane. ISBN 978-1-921683-50-3.

BRUNTON, PAUL, 2008. Bligh’s Sydney rebellion [online]. 2008. Mitchell Library. Available from: https://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au › docs › bligh_guide

1806, 1916. Historical Records of Australia: Series 1 Governors dispatches to and from England [online]. Sydney: Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament. Available from: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-467098471

AUCHMUTY, J. J., 1967. Wentworth, D’Arcy (1762–1827). In: Australian Dictionary of Biography [online]. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. [Accessed October 2021]. Available from: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wentworth-darcy-1545

BENNETT, J. M., 1966. Atkins, Richard (1745–1820). In: Australian Dictionary of Biography [online]. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. [Accessed August 2021]. Available from: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/atkins-richard-1723

EVATT, Herbert Vere, 1971. Rum rebellion: a study of the overthrow of Governor Bligh by John Macarthur and the New South Wales Corps. Hawthorn, Vic.: Lloyd O’Neil. Australian classics. ISBN 978-0-85550-037-5.

BURROUGHS, Walter, 2012. Captain William Bligh and his daughter. Journal of Australian Naval History.  Vol 9. Issue 1.  March 2012. pp83-99.  ISSN: 1836-3350

 


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