BY OLIVE LOKD, F.L.S. 3 



siderable bravery. He commanded a ship at the battle of 

 Camperdown, and later at the battle of Copenhagen in 1801. 

 In this year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 

 recognition of his work as a navigator, and the assistance 

 that his work had been to the cause of science. 



In 1805, largely owing to the influence of Sir Joseph 

 Banks, Bligh was appointed Governor-in-Chief of New South 

 Wales, which colony then included the whole of Eastern Aus- 

 tralia and Tasmania. He arrived at Port Jackson in August, 

 1806. His attempts to introduce certain needed, but drastic, 

 reforms met with considerable opposition from a section of 

 the community. This led to an insurrection in January, 1808, 

 when certain military officers placed Bligh under arrest. He 

 was kept in confinement until February, 1809, when he was 

 allowed to embark for England. Bligh was supposed to sail 

 direct, but he called at the Derwent, and was the cause of 

 some concern to Lieutenant-Governor Collins. He returned 

 to New South Wales after the arrival of Governor Macquarie, 

 and finally departed for England in May, 1810. 



Bligh eventually returned to England, and the authori- 

 ties, by their actions, apparently approved, on the whole, ol 

 the late Governor's tactics, and gave little encouragement 

 for any military force to depose a Governor in the future. 

 Bligh was appointed a Rear-Admiral of the Blue Squadron 

 in 1811, and a Vice- Admiral in 1814. He died on the 7th of 

 December, 1817.* 



The period of Bligh's governorship is not usually re- 

 ferred to in complimentary terms by some authors, but anyone 

 who studies the question cannot but fail to see that such a 

 period was bound to take place at some stage in the colony's 

 history. Bligh was used to the rough life of the high seas, 

 and his manners and methods merely made events to happen 

 with greater rapidity than they otherwise would have done. 

 In fact, the progress of Australia was advanced, as the storm 

 caused by Bligh's arrest led to the Home authorities taking 

 action. As Dr. Watson states, "it forced them to immediate 

 "reforms. It directly caused the recall of the New South 

 "Wales Corps, which, by long residence, had become the most 

 "powerful and perhaps the most evil factor in the community. 

 "It indirectly led to the reform of the law courts, to the 



♦There are several publications dealing with the life of William Blitth. 

 The best as far as its connection with Australian history is concerned, is 

 that written by Dr. Frederick Watson. (Historical Records of Australia 

 Series I., Vol. VII.. intro.) 



