William Bligh. Illustration of William Bligh (1754-1817), captain of the ship HMS Bounty. Bligh's crew mutinied in 1787 whilst he was collecting bread

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William Bligh. Illustration of William Bligh (1754-1817), captain of the ship HMS Bounty. Bligh's crew mutinied in 1787 whilst he was collecting breadfruit trees in Tahiti for introduction to the West Indies. Bligh and 18 men were cast adrift in a small boat with few provis- ions and no chart. Bligh successfully navigated 5400 kilometres (3600 miles) to Timor. On a second voyage Bligh successfully collected and delivered the breadfruit; he also explored Tasmania and Fiji. Bligh was later promoted to vice-admiral and during 1806-08 was Governor of New South Wales. In 1801 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society for his services to navigation and botany.

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Photo credit: © Science Photo Library / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: bligh, botanist, bounty, breadfruit, captain, explorer, mutiny, pioneer, portraits, surname, tahiti, tasmania, william