The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty (69 page)
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Authors: Caroline Alexander
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The fate of the
Resolution
is told by D. Renouard, “Voyage of the Pandora’s Tender,” 1791, ML, *D377. An edited version of this account was published as “The Last of the Pandoras,”
United Service Magazine,
no. 166 (September 1842), pp. 1-13. The schooner’s itinerary is reconstructed in H. E. Maude, “The Voyage of the
Pandora
’s Tender,”
Mariner’s Mirror
50 (1964), pp. 217-35. Morrison gives an elaborate description of the schooner’s construction in his “journal.”
Resolution
is told by D. Renouard, “Voyage of the Pandora’s Tender,” 1791, ML, *D377. An edited version of this account was published as “The Last of the Pandoras,”
United Service Magazine,
no. 166 (September 1842), pp. 1-13. The schooner’s itinerary is reconstructed in H. E. Maude, “The Voyage of the
Pandora
’s Tender,”
Mariner’s Mirror
50 (1964), pp. 217-35. Morrison gives an elaborate description of the schooner’s construction in his “journal.”
The
Pandora
’s complicated expenses are documented in Adm. 106/2217, Adm. 2/268, and Adm. 2/269.
Pandora
’s complicated expenses are documented in Adm. 106/2217, Adm. 2/268, and Adm. 2/269.
Adm. 51/383 contains the
Gorgon
’s log; other relevant files are Adm. 36/11120, the
Gorgon
’s muster, and Adm. 1/1001, Captain’s Letters, which includes the carpenter’s report on the state of the ship on her return to Spithead.
Gorgon
’s log; other relevant files are Adm. 36/11120, the
Gorgon
’s muster, and Adm. 1/1001, Captain’s Letters, which includes the carpenter’s report on the state of the ship on her return to Spithead.
Mary Ann Parker, the wife of the
Gorgon
’s captain, wrote an account of her voyage to Botany Bay and back, by way of the Cape, of which she gives a vivid description. Mary Ann Parker,
A Voyage round the World, in the Gorgon Man of War: Captain John Parker, Performed and written by his widow
(London, 1795). Captain Parker died shortly after he and his wife returned to England and Mrs. Parker learned that one of her children had died in their absence. The preface to her book states that it has “been most unjustly and injuriously reported, that the Authoress is worth a considerable sum of money,” and goes on to explain that while Captain Parker had indeed been entitled to a share of prize money “accruing from success in the West-Indies,” his debts were larger than that sum.
Gorgon
’s captain, wrote an account of her voyage to Botany Bay and back, by way of the Cape, of which she gives a vivid description. Mary Ann Parker,
A Voyage round the World, in the Gorgon Man of War: Captain John Parker, Performed and written by his widow
(London, 1795). Captain Parker died shortly after he and his wife returned to England and Mrs. Parker learned that one of her children had died in their absence. The preface to her book states that it has “been most unjustly and injuriously reported, that the Authoress is worth a considerable sum of money,” and goes on to explain that while Captain Parker had indeed been entitled to a share of prize money “accruing from success in the West-Indies,” his debts were larger than that sum.
Even in the random accounts cited in this chapter, one finds casual references to the presence of women on board. In the transcript of the
Narcissus
court-martial, for example, one of the men on trial offers a Mrs. Collins as his alibi, stating nonchalantly that “I lye near Mrs. Collins and her two children.” Similarly, in the account of the
Mercury
one learns that while on Tahiti, “Otoo happening to see a pair of [scissors] with a long chain suspended to them, given by our second mate to his wife, had a great desire to possess them, and demanded them of her; but she positively refused to give them up” (p. 32). An interesting examination of the role of usually unremarked women in the British navy is Suzanne J. Stark,
Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail
(Annapolis, 1996).
Narcissus
court-martial, for example, one of the men on trial offers a Mrs. Collins as his alibi, stating nonchalantly that “I lye near Mrs. Collins and her two children.” Similarly, in the account of the
Mercury
one learns that while on Tahiti, “Otoo happening to see a pair of [scissors] with a long chain suspended to them, given by our second mate to his wife, had a great desire to possess them, and demanded them of her; but she positively refused to give them up” (p. 32). An interesting examination of the role of usually unremarked women in the British navy is Suzanne J. Stark,
Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail
(Annapolis, 1996).
Lieutenant Clark’s journal is published as
The Journal and Letters of Lt. Ralph Clark, 1787-1792
(Sydney, 1981). The description of the Botany Bay convicts is given in Watkin Tench,
A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, including an accurate description of the situation of the colony; of the natives; and of its natural productions: taken on the spot, by Captain Watkin Tench
(London, 1793). Another journal covering the
Gorgon
’s homeward voyage is James Scott (Sargeant of Marines),
Remarks on a Passage to Botany Bay, 1787-1792,
Dixson Library, SLNSW, MS Q43.
The Journal and Letters of Lt. Ralph Clark, 1787-1792
(Sydney, 1981). The description of the Botany Bay convicts is given in Watkin Tench,
A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, including an accurate description of the situation of the colony; of the natives; and of its natural productions: taken on the spot, by Captain Watkin Tench
(London, 1793). Another journal covering the
Gorgon
’s homeward voyage is James Scott (Sargeant of Marines),
Remarks on a Passage to Botany Bay, 1787-1792,
Dixson Library, SLNSW, MS Q43.
The anonymous poem is found in Bligh’s papers in the Mitchell Library: “A Copy of Verses on the Loss of his Majesty’s Ships Bounty And Pandora, the former by Mutany, the Latter by Accident upon the Coast of New holland near Endeavour Straits. A Sad Catastrophe to the Latter On the 29th of August 1791,” ML, Safe 1/44.
Hamond’s orders are found in the Captain’s Letters for 1792, Adm. 1/1001. Montagu’s log of the
Hector
is found in Adm. 51/448. Burkett’s service is confirmed in Adm. 36/10544 (
Hector
muster book) and Adm. 35/758 (paybook).
Hector
is found in Adm. 51/448. Burkett’s service is confirmed in Adm. 36/10544 (
Hector
muster book) and Adm. 35/758 (paybook).
The account of Peter Heywood’s prayer book is given in the Reverend Thomas Boyles Murray,
Pitcairn: The Island, the People and the Pastor, to which is added a short notice of the original settlement and present condition of Norfolk Island,
11th ed. (London, 1858), pp. 72-73.
Pitcairn: The Island, the People and the Pastor, to which is added a short notice of the original settlement and present condition of Norfolk Island,
11th ed. (London, 1858), pp. 72-73.
Details of the
Chatham
’s visit are found in Edward Bell’s log of the
Chatham,
held by the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand (hereafter ATL): “Chatham, H.M.S., Journal of a voyage with Vancouver, 1792-4,” qMS-2071-2072. The story of Peggy and George Stewart was to be the inspiration of many poems, including Byron’s
The Island or Christian and His Comrades
(“There sat the gentle savage of the wild/In growth a woman, though in years a child . . .”).
BOUNTYChatham
’s visit are found in Edward Bell’s log of the
Chatham,
held by the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand (hereafter ATL): “Chatham, H.M.S., Journal of a voyage with Vancouver, 1792-4,” qMS-2071-2072. The story of Peggy and George Stewart was to be the inspiration of many poems, including Byron’s
The Island or Christian and His Comrades
(“There sat the gentle savage of the wild/In growth a woman, though in years a child . . .”).
Patrick O’Brian’s biography of Banks is first-rate, as one would expect:
Joseph Banks: A Life
(Chicago, 1997). A good biographical summary is also given in J. C. Beaglehole, ed.,
The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks, 1768-1771
(Sydney, 1962). Beaglehole also wrote the definitive biography of James Cook, which, in its account of the
Endeavour
voyage, has a great deal to say about Banks. Banks as the “lion of London” is from Beaglehole’s
The Life of Captain James Cook
(Stanford, Calif., 1974), p. 273.
Joseph Banks: A Life
(Chicago, 1997). A good biographical summary is also given in J. C. Beaglehole, ed.,
The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks, 1768-1771
(Sydney, 1962). Beaglehole also wrote the definitive biography of James Cook, which, in its account of the
Endeavour
voyage, has a great deal to say about Banks. Banks as the “lion of London” is from Beaglehole’s
The Life of Captain James Cook
(Stanford, Calif., 1974), p. 273.
Banks’s Tahitian adventures were first published in John Hawkesworth,
An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, And Successively Performed by Commodore Byron, Commodore Wallis, Captain Carteret and Captain Cook, in the
Dolphin,
the
Swallow,
and the
Endeavour,
drawn up from the journals which were kept by the several commanders, and from the papers of Joseph Banks, Esq.,
3 vols. (London, 1773); vol. 2, pp. 79-249, covers the
Endeavour
’s Tahitian sojourn. Cook objected to this popular rendition of his voyage and subsequently insisted on publishing his own account of his later expeditions.
An Account of the Voyages Undertaken by the Order of His Present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere, And Successively Performed by Commodore Byron, Commodore Wallis, Captain Carteret and Captain Cook, in the
Dolphin,
the
Swallow,
and the
Endeavour,
drawn up from the journals which were kept by the several commanders, and from the papers of Joseph Banks, Esq.,
3 vols. (London, 1773); vol. 2, pp. 79-249, covers the
Endeavour
’s Tahitian sojourn. Cook objected to this popular rendition of his voyage and subsequently insisted on publishing his own account of his later expeditions.
The facetious verses come from
An Epistle from Mr. Banks Voyager, Monster-Hunter, and Amoroso, To Oberea, Queen of Otaheite
(London, c. 1773). Banks’s own account of his interlude in Oberea’s canoe is given in his journal entry of May 28, 1769 (“I repaird to my old Freind Oborea who readily gave me a bed in her canoe much to my satisfaction. I acquainted my fellow travelers with my good fortune and wishing them as good took my leave. Oborea insisted that my cloths should be put in her custody . . .”).
An Epistle from Mr. Banks Voyager, Monster-Hunter, and Amoroso, To Oberea, Queen of Otaheite
(London, c. 1773). Banks’s own account of his interlude in Oberea’s canoe is given in his journal entry of May 28, 1769 (“I repaird to my old Freind Oborea who readily gave me a bed in her canoe much to my satisfaction. I acquainted my fellow travelers with my good fortune and wishing them as good took my leave. Oborea insisted that my cloths should be put in her custody . . .”).
The State Library of New South Wales holds one of the most important collections of Banks correspondence in the world; the Sir Joseph Banks Electronic Archive is available online at
www.sl.nsw.gov.au/banks
. Quoted here are Bligh’s letters to Banks of August 6, 1787 (46.02), November 5, 1787 (46.08), December 5, 1787 (46.13), December 6, 1787 (46.14), December 8, 1787 (46.15), January 9, 1788 (46.20), February 17, 1788 (46.21), and June 28, 1788 (46.25). The Natural History Museum, Botany Library, London, holds the Dawson Turner Copies (hereafter DTC), an extensive collection of transcriptions made of Banks’s correspondence.
www.sl.nsw.gov.au/banks
. Quoted here are Bligh’s letters to Banks of August 6, 1787 (46.02), November 5, 1787 (46.08), December 5, 1787 (46.13), December 6, 1787 (46.14), December 8, 1787 (46.15), January 9, 1788 (46.20), February 17, 1788 (46.21), and June 28, 1788 (46.25). The Natural History Museum, Botany Library, London, holds the Dawson Turner Copies (hereafter DTC), an extensive collection of transcriptions made of Banks’s correspondence.
A selection of Banks’s correspondence has been published by the Banks Archive Project: Neil Chambers, ed.,
The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768-1820
(London, 2000). Warren Royal Dawson, ed.,
The Banks Letters: A Calendar of the Manuscript Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks Preserved in the British Museum, the British Museum (Natural History) and Other Collections in Great Britain
(London, 1958), offers a synopsis of more than seven thousand letters. There can be few other bibliographic catalogues that are in themselves as engrossing as this mammoth publication. As the opening sentence of the preface states, “There is scarcely an aspect of British public life in the reign of George III that is not represented at first hand in the Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks.”
The Letters of Sir Joseph Banks: A Selection, 1768-1820
(London, 2000). Warren Royal Dawson, ed.,
The Banks Letters: A Calendar of the Manuscript Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks Preserved in the British Museum, the British Museum (Natural History) and Other Collections in Great Britain
(London, 1958), offers a synopsis of more than seven thousand letters. There can be few other bibliographic catalogues that are in themselves as engrossing as this mammoth publication. As the opening sentence of the preface states, “There is scarcely an aspect of British public life in the reign of George III that is not represented at first hand in the Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks.”
There were several mermaid sightings, of which that of William Munro, on June 9, 1809, is the most confidently stated: “. . . in the course of my walking on the Shore of Sand-side Bay, being a fine warm day in Summer, my attention was arrested by the appearance of a figure, resembling an unclothed human female, sitting upon a rock extending into the Sea; and apparently in the action of combing its hair, which flowed around its shoulders” (DTC 17.322-324).
For Banks supplying Coleridge with Indian hemp, see Earl Leslie Griggs, ed.,
Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
vol. 2 (Oxford, 1956), pp. 918ff.
Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
vol. 2 (Oxford, 1956), pp. 918ff.
Valentine Morris’s letter to Banks, April 17, 1772, is in British Library, Additional Manuscripts, London (hereafter BL Add. MS), 33977.18.
The political background of the breadfruit expedition and the West India Committee’s lobby is described in “The Romance of the Bread-fruit,”
The West India Committee Circular,
no. 590 (May 12, 1921), pp. 197-99; and David MacKay, “Banks, Bligh and Breadfruit,”
The New Zealand Journal of History
8 (1974), pp. 61-77.
The West India Committee Circular,
no. 590 (May 12, 1921), pp. 197-99; and David MacKay, “Banks, Bligh and Breadfruit,”
The New Zealand Journal of History
8 (1974), pp. 61-77.
Matthew Wallen’s letter to Banks of May 6, 1785, is in BL Add. MS 33978.11-12. Banks notes his own lack of good breadfruit specimens in a letter to Johann Georg Adam Forster, May 20, 1782, DTC 2.132-133.
For Banks’s approval of a distinct breadfruit expedition, see his letter to Lord Liverpool, March 30, 1787, DTC 5.143-146. For Lord Sydney’s letter to Banks of August 15, 1787, see DTC 5.208-209.
There are two standard and very good biographies of William Bligh: George Mackaness,
The Life of Vice-Admiral William Bligh R. N., F. R. S.,
rev. ed. (Sydney, 1951); and Gavin Kennedy,
Bligh
(London, 1978), later revised and published as
Captain Bligh: The Man and His Mutinies
(London, 1989). Mackaness is the more detailed and exhaustive, Kennedy the more insightful. Bligh’s ships of service are listed on the flyleaves of a family Bible held by the Mitchell Library: “Bligh Family, Genealogy of, and Memoranda, 1754-1885,” ML A2049. Cook’s remarks on the duties of young officers serving him are found in Cook,
A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Undertaken, By The Command of His Majesty, For Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere,
vol. 1 (London, 1784), p. 5. The events surrounding Cook’s death are described in Gavin Kennedy,
The Death of Captain Cook
(London, 1978). Bligh’s remarks made in the margins of a copy of Cook’s
Voyage
are described in Lieutenant Commander Rupert T. Gould, “Bligh’s Notes on Cook’s Last Voyage,”
Mariner’s Mirror
14 (1928), pp. 371-85. For Bligh’s remarks on “improving” himself, see his letter to John Bond, April 7, 1783, published in George Mackaness, ed.,
Fresh Light on Bligh
(Sydney, 1953), pp. 16 ff.
The Life of Vice-Admiral William Bligh R. N., F. R. S.,
rev. ed. (Sydney, 1951); and Gavin Kennedy,
Bligh
(London, 1978), later revised and published as
Captain Bligh: The Man and His Mutinies
(London, 1989). Mackaness is the more detailed and exhaustive, Kennedy the more insightful. Bligh’s ships of service are listed on the flyleaves of a family Bible held by the Mitchell Library: “Bligh Family, Genealogy of, and Memoranda, 1754-1885,” ML A2049. Cook’s remarks on the duties of young officers serving him are found in Cook,
A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Undertaken, By The Command of His Majesty, For Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere,
vol. 1 (London, 1784), p. 5. The events surrounding Cook’s death are described in Gavin Kennedy,
The Death of Captain Cook
(London, 1978). Bligh’s remarks made in the margins of a copy of Cook’s
Voyage
are described in Lieutenant Commander Rupert T. Gould, “Bligh’s Notes on Cook’s Last Voyage,”
Mariner’s Mirror
14 (1928), pp. 371-85. For Bligh’s remarks on “improving” himself, see his letter to John Bond, April 7, 1783, published in George Mackaness, ed.,
Fresh Light on Bligh
(Sydney, 1953), pp. 16 ff.
Bligh’s physical description is given in the Reverend Thomas Boyles Murray,
Pitcairn: The Island, the People and the Pastor: to which is added a short notice of the original settlement and present condition of Norfolk Island,
8th ed. (London, 1857), pp. 60-61. Depictions of Bligh are discussed in Geoffrey Callender, “The Portraiture of Bligh,”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 172-78.
Pitcairn: The Island, the People and the Pastor: to which is added a short notice of the original settlement and present condition of Norfolk Island,
8th ed. (London, 1857), pp. 60-61. Depictions of Bligh are discussed in Geoffrey Callender, “The Portraiture of Bligh,”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 172-78.
The A to Z of the
Bounty
’s acquisition, dimensions, and refitting, including diagrams of the ship and a description and plan of the ship’s launch, is C. Knight, “H.M. Armed Vessel
Bounty
,”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 183-99; also see John McKay,
The Armed Transport Bounty
(London, c. 1989). The original blueprints of the
Bounty
are in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (ID 3190). Bligh’s own description of his ship and her refitting is given in his second published narrative: William Bligh,
A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in His Majesty’s Ship the
Bounty
commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh. Including an Account of the Mutiny on Board the Said Ship, and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship’s Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
(London, 1792). This account also includes the history of European discovery of the breadfruit, Bligh’s sailing orders, and his quotation regarding “the object of all previous voyages.” Gavin Kennedy was the first to underscore the implications of the
Bounty
’s small size and cramped quarters, a subject elaborated upon more directly in Greg Dening,
Mr. Bligh’s Bad Language
(Cambridge, 1992).
Bounty
’s acquisition, dimensions, and refitting, including diagrams of the ship and a description and plan of the ship’s launch, is C. Knight, “H.M. Armed Vessel
Bounty
,”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 183-99; also see John McKay,
The Armed Transport Bounty
(London, c. 1989). The original blueprints of the
Bounty
are in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich (ID 3190). Bligh’s own description of his ship and her refitting is given in his second published narrative: William Bligh,
A Voyage to the South Sea, Undertaken by Command of His Majesty, for the Purpose of Conveying the Bread-Fruit Tree to the West Indies in His Majesty’s Ship the
Bounty
commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh. Including an Account of the Mutiny on Board the Said Ship, and the Subsequent Voyage of Part of the Crew, in the Ship’s Boat, from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch Settlement in the East Indies
(London, 1792). This account also includes the history of European discovery of the breadfruit, Bligh’s sailing orders, and his quotation regarding “the object of all previous voyages.” Gavin Kennedy was the first to underscore the implications of the
Bounty
’s small size and cramped quarters, a subject elaborated upon more directly in Greg Dening,
Mr. Bligh’s Bad Language
(Cambridge, 1992).
The saga of Banks’s refitting of the
Resolution
is given in Beaglehole,
The Life of Captain James Cook,
pp. 293ff. Banks’s reaction to the undoing of his careful adaptations is found in “Memoirs of the early life of John Elliott,” BL Add. MS 42714, folios 10-11. (“He
swore
&
stamp’d
upon the
warfe,
like a Mad Man.”)
Resolution
is given in Beaglehole,
The Life of Captain James Cook,
pp. 293ff. Banks’s reaction to the undoing of his careful adaptations is found in “Memoirs of the early life of John Elliott,” BL Add. MS 42714, folios 10-11. (“He
swore
&
stamp’d
upon the
warfe,
like a Mad Man.”)
For Banks’s stern injunctions to “the Master & Crew,” see DTC 5.210-216 (to an unknown correspondent). The possibility of an astronomer on board the
Bounty
is referred to in Banks to Lord Howe, September 9, 1787, SLNSW: the Sir Joseph Banks Electronic Archive, 45.09.
Bounty
is referred to in Banks to Lord Howe, September 9, 1787, SLNSW: the Sir Joseph Banks Electronic Archive, 45.09.
The
Bounty
’s muster provides the name, age, place of origin and date of entry on the ship’s books of each member of the crew, and is found in the Admiralty records, Adm. 36/ 10744. The ship’s establishment is reprinted in D. Bonner Smith, “Some Remarks About the Mutiny on the
Bounty,
”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 200-237.
Bounty
’s muster provides the name, age, place of origin and date of entry on the ship’s books of each member of the crew, and is found in the Admiralty records, Adm. 36/ 10744. The ship’s establishment is reprinted in D. Bonner Smith, “Some Remarks About the Mutiny on the
Bounty,
”
Mariner’s Mirror
22 (1936), pp. 200-237.
John Fryer’s birth, death, and marriage records are preserved in the parish records of Wells-next-the Sea, Norfolk; I am indebted to Mike Welland of Wells for sharing his careful biographical work on John Fryer and his family. Much information is also found in the “Statement of service of John Fryer, recorded by one of his children” (National Library of Australia, MS 6592) and in Fryer’s Memorial to the Admiralty (Adm. 1/4585). Robert Tinkler’s birth certificate is also in the parish records (Baptisms for 1775).
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