Person    | Male  Born 9/9/1754  Died 7/12/1817

Captain William Bligh

Naval officer and colonial governor. Born in Plymouth. He served under Captain James Cook and was chosen to command the Bounty on a voyage to Tahiti to collect bread-fruit plants. On the return journey he and eighteen other men were cast adrift in an open boat, by the mutinous crew led by Fletcher Christian. They eventually reached Timor having travelled nearly 4,000 miles.

He served under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Copenhagen. Appointed Governor of New South Wales in 1805, he was imprisoned in another mutiny called the 'Rum Rebellion'. At his retirement he was promoted to admiral. Died at home, 27 Bond Street (2017 occupied by DKNY), according to Royal Museum Greenwich, though other sources give 25 (Tiffanys).

March 2022: London SE1 reported that "The tomb of Captain William Bligh of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' fame is one of the monuments featured in a Lambeth Council consultation on statues, memorials and street names with potential links to the transatlantic slave trade. ... Although the borough's own archivists noted that Bligh's association with the slave trade was 'marginal', his tomb has been included in the public consultation launched by the council this month asking for views on how contested memorials should be treated.  ... Captain Bligh was buried in the churchyard of St Mary-at-Lambeth and his tomb – made of local Coade stone produced on the South Bank – is now at the centre of the Garden Museum's courtyard."

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Captain William Bligh

Commemorated ati

Captain Bligh - SE1

William Bligh, 1754 - 1817, commander of the "Bounty", lived here. London Cou...

Read More

Captain Bligh - Wapping

William Bligh R.N., F.R.S., who transplanted breadfruit from Tahiti to the We...

Read More

Mydiddee

Caroline's Miscellany has an excellent post on Mydiddee.  We hope she won't m...

Read More

Other Subjects

H. C. W. Porter

H. C. W. Porter

Resident of Hendon who served and died in WW2.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Serjeant Edward Charles Wilkin

Serjeant Edward Charles Wilkin

Edward Charles Wilkin was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the son of Edward Wilkin (1856-1935) and Emily Matilda Wilkin née Gunner (1861-1918).  He departed Sydney, New South Wales, Austra...

Person, Armed Forces, Australia

War dead, WW1
2 memorials
Air Marshal Lord Hugh Montague Trenchard

Air Marshal Lord Hugh Montague Trenchard

Founder of the Royal Air Force.  Born Somerset.  Aged 20 joined the Second Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and served in India, in the Boer War and in Nigeria.  Learnt to fly in 1912 and ser...

Person, Armed Forces, India, Nigeria, South Africa

1 memorial
T. C. Thornton

T. C. Thornton

Employed at the Streatham bus garage. Served and was killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Richd. S. Roper

Richd. S. Roper

Resident of the Central Ward, Hendon who served and died in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial

Previously viewed

E. G. Bacon

E. G. Bacon

Surbiton man killed serving in WW1.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Guildhall School of Music - Purcell

Guildhall School of Music - Purcell

EC4, John Carpenter Street

This complex of buildings was created to house the Guildhall School of Music, who had outgrown their premises at Aldermanbury. Designed b...

1 subject commemorated
King John

King John

Born Oxford, youngest son of Henry II, succeeding on the death of his brother Richard I. Reigned as King of England 6 April 1199 until his death. Succeeded by his son, Henry III.

Person, Royalty

6 memorials
Robert Trotter fountain - SW3

Robert Trotter fountain - SW3

SW3, Fulham Road, Pelham Crescent Gardens

"1 Thess. 1-3" is a biblical reference, the text of which reads: "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Harrow & Wealdstone Station

Harrow & Wealdstone Station

HA3, The Bridge, Harrow & Wealdstone Station, north entrance

Inside the station are two other plaques which we've transcribed but they are too dull to warrant the full treatment: Dull plaque 1: This...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator