natural history painter, naval cartographer, officer and governor, is best known for the controversy which surrounded the mutiny of his crew on HMS Bounty on 30 April 1789 and the rebellion on 26 January 1808 which resulted in his removal from the governorship of New South Wales. For neither event was he solely, or perhaps even primarily, to blame, but his brusque, abrasive, forthright manner, as well as the policies which he pursued in New South Wales, certainly contributed to his misfortunes. Although his reputation is built on his work as seaman and governor, he was practised in both cartography and drawing. He accompanied Cook on his third voyage and, as master of the Resolution , was frequently employed in 'constructing charts … and in drawing plans of … bays and harbours’.
From the standpoint of the art historian, the most important surviving record of Bligh’s achievements is a manuscript titled 'Drawings by William Bligh, Commander of His Majesty’s Ship Providence’ (Mitchell Library). It contains 58 illustrations drawn by Bligh while in charge of a mission to transport bread-fruit from Tahiti to the West Indies between 1791 and 1793. There are views of the island of St Paul, a sketch of two natives in a canoe and another of the Canoe of Whytootackee. Most of the paintings, however, are of snakes, birds and fish seen in the vicinity of a number of islands, including Van Diemen’s Land. All are watercolours, although some are more in the nature of sketches than finished works. Some, for example those of the birds of Van Diemen’s Land, are most lifelike and colourful. Others are rather stilted and lack depth and movement, but all appear accurate and are painstakingly presented – closely comparable with watercolours by George Tobin , the other sketching member of the crew, who drew some of the same subjects. Cumulatively they show Bligh to have been a competent draughtsman who was not without skill in depicting simple images of natural history subjects. His best known, if not his most accomplished work, is his small watercolour of a platypus, sent with an accompanying description to Sir Joseph Banks , who had it engraved for the Royal Society Journal (1802).
- Writers:
- Fletcher, Brian H.
- Date written:
- 1992
- Last updated:
- 2011
