What Really Happened After the Mutiny on the Bounty 

In 1960, I met two Pitcairn Islanders while on the voyage from England to New Zealand with my parents on the SS Ceramic. They were Floyd McCoy and Tom Christian, descendants of William McCoy and Fletcher Christian. They came out to the Ceramic on two little boats with a number of other islanders to sell their home made trinkets and mementos. Both of them were ham radio operators (Floyd - callsign VR6AC, and Tom - callsign VR6TC.... I still have their QSL cards). My dad, also a ham radio operator, spoke to both of them frequently on ham radio in the years afterward. Tom also ran _"The Voice of Pitcairn"_ radio station on the island.

Fun fact: One of my ancestors served as Tahiti's dentist, and eventually became the British consul to the island. My great great grandma divorced her original husband shortly after the wedding, took her young daughter on a cruise that spanned most of the world, and ended up settling in Tahiti and marrying the consul/dentist. A woman doing this was unheard of in the late 19th century, but she did it. The King of Tahiti sold them the island of Tetiaroa, where they ran a copra plantation. They also sailed back and forth among Polynesia, Southeast Asia, China, and California several times over the years. My grandpa (who was a teenager by that point) was specifically forbidden to go with them, because his mother didn't want him getting involved with island girls. Marlon Brando fell in love with the island when he was scouting filming locations for Mutiny On The Bounty. My great grandma sold him the island in the 60s; he came to what's now my house in-person to finalize the documents, met with my family, and gave my dad and his siblings a ride in his limo. My basement is now filled with antiques, shells, maps, and photos from late 19th - early 20th century Tahiti. I want to visit Tetiaroa someday to retrace my family's footsteps (I inherited my great great grandmother's adventurous streak), but I definitely can't afford it right now.

Overall, Bligh lived a pretty amazing life - to have witnessed the death of Cook, to have been a central figure in that infamous mutiny and accomplished that epic feat of seamanship afterwards, to have had a central role in the young colony of New South Wales, and to have been at the battle of Copenhagen - that’s a fairly full life as far as I’m concerned.

If you live in Australia, or you're ever visiting Oz, and have an interest in the whole "Bounty" story, Townsville, Nth Queensland, (where I live) is home to The Museum of Tropical Queensland which houses the largest collection related to the Pandora. The collection contains some remarkable objects recovered from the wreck (discovered in 1977) including cannons, tableware, medical equipment and a remarkably intact padlock believed to have been used to shackle the prisoners in "Pandora's Box". The padlock shows signs of having been broken open and it is believed this was done by the prisoners in their attempt to escape as the ship floundered. My friend worked at the museum and had been on two of the expeditions, as a hyperbaric nurse, while studying for her degree in archaeology. She also assisted in the cataloguing of artifacts recovered. I have been fortunate enough to have been given private "backstage" tours, by her, where there is a treasure trove of other artifacts, each with amazing stories, not commonly displayed for the public. Well worth a visit and an amazing story 😊

Setting him adrift in the South Pacific, imagine the steel it took finding a way to one day step foot back on English soil, … incredible.

Pitcairn's Island is one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books. It's astounding that the men didn't think about bringing enough women with them for each of them. What a ridiculous oversight.

Play at 0.75 speed.

One of my all time favorite subjects! Thanks Simon! (For anyone interested, there is a fantastic book on this called “The Bounty”, by Caroline Alexander. Highly recommended.) EDIT. It’s been a year. One thing about this book, is that it gives updates, what happened to the mutineers, willing or not. That’s it’s OWN unbelievable story!

I’ve always been fascinated by this story and the South Pacific in general. I boarded the replica Bounty in Victoria BC a few years back, and in my youth, as a junior navigating officer with the New Zealand Sipping Company, in the early 60’s we often called in to Pitcairn on the way to New Zealand. I clearly remember the islanders coming out to board my ship to trade things like washing powder and toothpaste for wooden carvings of flying fish and outrigger canoes. I still hike with a carved walking stick engraved Parkin Christian, who was the islands Magistrate at the time. After having read almost all the books on the mutiny, I maintain that Bligh was no more of a tyrant than Cook, and no one suggests he was a tyrant. It has become fashionable to condemn that era through todays eyes, rather than researching history and understanding what these sailors were up against in 1789!

I live in Sydney, and it pleased me once to walk the exact route of the Rum Rebellion on a hot day (not difficult - walk from Wynyard Station, across Wynyard Square, and east along Bridge Street until you get to the Sydney Museum). The Rebellion was Australia's only ever military coup, and lasted about two years. There are traces of it all over Sydney - for example, Lt Gore was rewarded for remaining loyal to Bligh by being given two land grants by Macquarie: what are now the bland suburbs of Gore Hill and Artarmon. Near my house is O'Connell Street, named after another loyalist redcoat who extended help to the Blighs and ended up falling in love with Bligh's daughter in consequence.

Nice work on this story. My mother is Tahitian and was in the second Bounty movie with Marlon Brando. Her character was Mills’ native girlfriend, portrayed by the late Richard Harris.

Those interested in this might also wish to read _Two Years Before the Mast_ by Richard Henry Dana Jr. It's a visceral and moving account of the early 19th century maritime exploits of the author. I read it twice, and the second brought with it an anticipation which I've rarely experienced while reading a novel

Bligh was in fact remembered fondly by the people of New South Wales, after the military take over the only act of defiance that the civilians could safely get away with was to name their children after him. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull came from one of those families that lived through the military junta of 1808 to 1810.

Loving history I had always known this version of Bligh, the incredible open boat journey - and his 3 mutinies! Pitcairn has also always been a real fascination. Indeed, truthful history is usually far more interesting than the simplified fictional versions. Living on the Isle of Man the strong connections with HMS Bounty were pretty common knowledge - ie Bligh married in Onchan to a Manx woman, Elizabeth Betham. Chistian came from a Manx family, the Milntown Christians. Midshipman Peter Heywood was also from Douglas. Wonderful history.

Only 1 flogging in several months? Danny and Sam would trade that for the regular floggings in Simon's basement any day! They even get rum!

I grew up in Townsville in North Queensland Australia, near where the HMS Pandora sank. The museum in Townsville has a permanent exhibit dedicated to the Pandora including a life sized replica of the boat.

One correction is that the dancing although sounding nice on the surface was something the men hated as it was forced dancing for hours, upon hours. For the Bligh he thought it was good, keep spirits up and kept the men healthy. However it was doing the opposite in terms of spirit. The fact he didn't notice this is probably another reason a Mutiny was able to brew under his very nose.

At this point I also consider Simon’s voluminous beard to be a powder keg fearfully awaiting a stray Sparco cinder to send it to an uproarious blaze. Gentlemen of the crew, please keep your fire suppression equipment at the ready.

Great video Simon, as always. Its really hard to get onto Pican Island, you have to jump through a lot of hoops before they even consider your application. And they have weird accents, not quite Australian, not quite British.

Kindness, more often than not, is mistaken for weakness.

Such a fantastic story end..... Brilliant ... Thank you very much

I really enjoyed this episode, how is this for a strange coincidence. My mothers family tree goes back to the Christians who were from Cumbria and whom Fletcher Christian was one of them. It was well known in my family history. However my Father who began tracing his Family history in the late 1980's discovered that John Norton who was Blighs Quartermaster and of whom Bligh spoke well of,was in my fathers family tree. My parents married in 1947 in NZ. So we have skin in the game from both sides of the mutiny on the Bounty.

The sad thing is breadfruit trees really don't make much fruit. It's not bad to eat, kinda like eggplant, but not very filling. The Caribbean had plenty of food with pumpkin, pineapple, coconut, papaya,sweet potato, yucca and then many introduced foods including plantains and rice.

Bligh is more interesting! He went on to be a governor of a penal colony in Australia that also had an historic mutiny. Please cover that. Lmao you did at the end! Wonderful videos

Through his mother movie star Errol Flynn ,who played Fletcher Christian in the 1933 movie "In the Wake of the Bounty", was a direct descendant of Bounty Mutineer Midshipmen Ned Young.

Thanks for setting the record straight and giving Bligh a fair judgement. Good to see an account that doesn't reinforce current political narratives but attempts to stick to the facts. good job!

In 1996, on a visit to Portsmouth, I saw a modern reproduction of the launch. I always imagined it looking like a 20th Century lifeboat. It was much smaller and more gracile than I imagined.

Yes, an absolutely great story. Everyone must see all three movies with Charles Laughton, Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson.

This was fascinating to me. I’m interested in anything maritime, and the stories of Bligh and his activities are directly related to Sydney, where I live The tales of Sydney life around the time of the rum rebellion make for fascinating reading. The only glitches in the video are your pronunciation of “Pitcairn”, and it’s derivative “Pitcairners”. And “Timor” which rang out during your commentary like a dog barking, to mix metaphors. But a rollicking good yarn well told. Thank you Simon

Fascinating story . The events after the mutiny are worthy of a movie .

You know ..breadfruit can be a bit bland and spongy if you're not used to it. Great follow up on Fletcher Christian and Mutiny on the Bounty!

I never knew so many details of the events not told about in the various movies. Thanks!

Nowhere in this analysis is there any mention of Sir Joseph Banks who was a very rich man and amateur botanist. Perhaps because of the fact that he was richer than most of his contemporaries he probably assumed that this made him smarter than they were. Smart or not, his riches allowed hime to be self-indulgent. One of the results was the raison d'etre of the whole Bounty fiasco. Thus an undersized ship was expected to sail to Tahiti and take on potted plants which bore the breadfruit, which according to Banks could be taken to the West Indies and grown to serve as an inexpensive source of nourishment for slaves. The whole enterprise was harebrained. Bounty was small to begin with, but when set up with potted breadfruit plants everywhere in the ship it was probably intolerably crowded even by the undemanding standards prevailing then in the late XVIII century wooden wall ships. Add to this that the crew had had several months ashore in Tahiti cohabiting with compliant local women, after which they were expected to operate in the overcrowded ship. A classic transition from Heaven to Hell. Bligh or not, mutiny would seem, admittedly with the benefit of hindsight, to be inevitable. The enterprise had been an ill-conceived proposition from the start - a disaster waiting to draw to its inevitable sad conclusion. Sad that history considers only the mutiny initiated by ordinary sailors driven beyond the point of endurance, rather than what happens when rich men of influence initiate whimsical and harebrained schemes to be carried out by others.

There was a story in the 1960s that a friend saw Fletcher Christian in London, years later. And in the 19th Century, Christian's (supposed) grave on Pitcairn Island was opened-and no remians were found. I have never read anymore about this.

Bligh was an amazing sailor and navigator

Bligh's grave is in Southwark where he lived. Fittingly the church where it may be found is now the Garden Museum. It is also the resting place of John Tradescant (c1570 - 1638), the first great gardener and plant-hunter in British history. The de-consecrated church used to be St. Mary's of Lambeth. I believe the Constitution that islanders set up inadvertently created Universal Suffrage. When specifying how old you had to be to vote they stated 'only over 21'. They forgot to mention 'only men over 21'! Thus every women had the right to vote. The maps Bligh created on the journey in the lifeboat were still being used in WWII. They were still the most accurate maps of the area at that time!

The Bounty went from St.Pete to Zihuatanejo in Mexico Pacific coast in Oct 1982 to make the film 'YellowBeard'....from Monty Python's fame.I never seen the movie tho'.Met my wife there during the filming in 'Los Gatas ' beach.Gitanos .Happy times .....now like John Adams its all memories.Sooo sad to see The Bounty go down in the Hurricane.Beautiful , Beautiful ship.

I and my son visited the Bounty replica when she was based in Battleship Cove, Fall River Mass...Very cool...

I was very fortunate to be invited onto the replica of the Bounty that was used in the film starring Marlon Brando, in Malaga Spain.. The replica was one third larger than the original. The original must have been tiny, and extremely cramped. The replica Bounty was on its way to Tahiti and had sailed from Canada.

Good video 👍

Fascinating Simon as are all your videos I’ve seen the Anthony Hopkins/Mel Gibson movie many times but this was the first time I’ve heard the real story thank you I enjoyed that very much good day sir

I once met a 103 year old women in the 1970s who told me that her relatives had traveled with captain Bly on the Bounty who told her that he was very good to his passengers but very hard on his crew.

You mentioned that Bligh had a sharp tongue. This alone can destroy morale no matter what other virtues a person may have.

Enjoyed that - well done..👏

You are SOOOO certain about Bligh being nice. 27 minutes and not a doubt. "Actually, that's not how they felt at all..." LOL

A rather excellent account. A little more cover of the Norfolk islanders might be suggested.

This was much better than any of the movies 👍🏻

Really interesting video, I might suggest a slight decrease in verbal tempo because it's nice to process what's being said and that was a little fast for me ... maybe im getting old lol

Bligh was praised by Horatio Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen.

You should cover the Eureka Stockade. Miners in Ballarat Victoria rebeled against British rule over expensive taxes in the form off licences and harsh treatment. The miners lost the battle but changed public opinion and eventually forced the government to inact reform.

A late friend was descendant from the Bounty. He was a Adams and came from Norfolk Island.he was western in attitudes, just another person , although of coarse had Polanesian features,. He had stong ties to Norfolk and would go back for holidays...do some fishing

There is a breadfruit "tree" in Hope Town Bahamas which was brought to the cay by Captain Bligh on his "Come Back Tour."

Outstanding, informative and complete. Excellent!

Really, all of history can be considered a dispute over coconuts.

What a time in history, when we didn't know what was over the horizon on our planet. A time of discovery and adventure for those who dared. No Google earth for these people.

I think Adams killed the remaining mutineers. He is known to have changed the story as to what happened to them.

Reduce playback speed to minus .75, lol. Nice video !!

Really enjoyed this.

Thanks for your videos. Very interesting. But a word of advice… to my ear you rush through the narrative. Maybe slow down just a bit. Respectfully, Guy

RIP VADM Bligh a misunderstood legend

...America had its own mutiny too, in 1840, Alexander Slidell Mckenzie commanding the school ship (no naval academy yet), USS Somers a 16 gun sloop of war, he hung 3 men for a mutiny that didn't exist, tales told by a young midshipman and trouble maker named Phillip Spencer who was also the son of the secretary of war, he was court martialed, the verdict, not proven, he died young, in his early 40s, you should do a video about it Simon 😉....it is said that Melville based his last, and I think best, novel, "Billy Budd" on the Somers mutiny....

fun fact most people know of the bounty mutiny some even know of the rum rebellion but not so many know of the the mutinies of Spithead and Noir all of which Bligh was involved with Bligh was Captain of the ship Director anchored at Noir

Thank you, Very accurate account of events. I just hate Hollywood history it's never accurate but people tend to think so

If the classical stories I read as a kid only two I can vividly remember 1000 leagues under the sea and Mutiny on HMS bounty

I can tell you exactly what happened. I was there that day. Was sitting in my armchair on the top deck. Got a bit windy at certain times. Probably ate too much cabbage on that trip

At one time I became obsessed with this whole story, and I must say this is a very well-informed presentation. I also like that you give Bligh a fair shake, something the Admiralty and the court of public opinion at the time sure didn't. Peter Heywood was one of several men who were not part of the mutiny, were loyal to Bligh, and who were left on Otaheite because there was no room on the little landing craft they set Bligh off in (which would not pass current Coast Guard safety standards, BTW.) In fact, Heywood and several others had happily and voluntarily reported to Edward Edwards as soon as they learned of Pandora's arrival. Heywood wrote a Tahitian-to-English dictionary that is still used today. He did NOTHING wrong, and many things right. He was exemplary really. After his terrifying trip back to Britain, he barely escaped the gallows at the last minute. You could do an interesting history highlight with his story alone. The men in Pandora's box were chained up naked, having to roll with the ship in their own waste. When the apparently inferior sailing skills of Edwards caused them to run aground, he ordered his people to stop unshackling the prisoners and let them drown. Then he had the survivors chained, naked, laying on a sandy tropical reef, with absolutely no shade.

I got a feeling that William Bligh has not been exposed in an honest light. Most of the stories about the mutiny on the Bounty have been rather one-sided, and that largely due the authors penchant for sensationalism.

Simon. The pronunciation of left tenant for lieutenant in used in other branches of the military the navy always used lew tenant.

William Blight has been depicted as a "harsh" man in most the "Munity in the Bounty" films. In the first depiction of "Munity on the Bounty" by Raymond Longford I haven't seen, but in Charles Chauvel's doco-drama "In the Wake of the Bounty" he is depicted by the Pitcairn Islanders (actual descendants of Fletcher Christian and other mutineers) as a harsh figure. No bias here. So was Bligh's reputation tarnished by Chauvel blindly believing the account of the Pitcairn Islanders?

WONDERFUL VIDEO!!!

0:01 ~~BE-CAUUUUUSE Mutiny on the Bounty is what we're all about!! We'll climb aboard your ship and turn it all out! On an unrelated note...lol... How do you Not have a parrot on your shoulder for this one?.. and maybe an eyepatch? YARRRGH, Matey!! 😄

Yes, Bligh was such a gentalemen, that many of his crew mutinied. Those that didn't, where probably terrified of Bligh.

Great video but just a note ,Timor is north west of cape York.

That's an amazing story!

Simon provides again something you found interesting but never bothered to look up 🙂.

While I don't disagree, I do have to sit in amusement at the idea of the Mel Gibson being associated with any movie referred to as "most historically accurate."

Interesting. It is worth noting that you wouldn't go South West from Cape York to Timor, you'd go West as they are on (more or less) the same latitude.

Bligh should've been knighted when promoted to admiral - Heaven knows how many lesser men were given knighthoods and peerages during that era.

This is a great reminder that even if you have an excellent reason for doing what you need to do, those in charge do not give one shit. All they want is the system to be protected.

Like the new lamp!

Isn't there an island named after the guy that led the mutiny?

Thank you 😊

Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.

I once read a serial-number-filed-off novel. On the one hand, its version of Christian is genuinely good and the captain sets off the mutiny by beating the cabin boy to death (not subtle), but on the other the basic pattern of conflicts on the island is the same, and the other mutineers do NOT come off good. And I do wonder if genetic studies on inbreeding have been done there.

You left out the legacy of Bligh’s wife in Tasmania by the apple species she helped introduce.

The Rum Rebellion is still frequently referenced in NSW and interestingly enough both sides of the incident have landmarks named for the participants.

There’s an interesting book titled “Serpent in Paradise.” Written by a woman who visited Pitcairn Island in the late 20th century. Interesting read.

If Bligh was such a great commander why when he was governer of New South Wales did the rum rebellion occur. Seems to me he had some problems at being a leader. But you tell whatever stories you wish Simon.

Huh.... wild tropical storms and searing heat.... not in may /June even in northern Queensland

History is oft times in media made to be simple in order to capture the limited attention span of the general public, who detest complexity and contradictions in TV, streaming, and movies.

I’m almost always bath amused and irritated when someone decades or even centuries after an historic event examines and “reinterprets’ and corrects with having never been there or even spoken to someone who was there. Talk about outrageous hubris. Ridiculous.

Great video

He also didn't have any marines with him as security, among other things.

God, there's no chance of finding anyone back then. Even now, with planes and technology, it's near Impossible.

Another great video - fascinating story. But what's an empah?

Anna Bligh was a descendant who became the first female Premier of Queensland. She proved her worth during some disasterous floods. It also proves that someone in the Bligh family is capable of competent governance.

Figured out how to distill a hallucinogenic tea, lol, what I'd do.

I have heard that the Mel Gibson version of the story is the most accurate.

As a descendant of one of the mutineers, yes Bligh did an exceptional job getting his men off that raft but he was an arsehole. You didn't mention that he was also involved in the incident that caused Cook's death.

You failed to mention the journal of one of the crewmen. Stating numerous outrageous treatments like feeding the men pumpkins instead of regular rations, blaming the men of the cheese fiasco, when Bligh had ordered the 2 cheeses to his own home. The keel hauling which was illegal.