Thecomplement ofHMS Bounty, theRoyal Navy ship on whicha historic mutiny occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789, comprised 46 men on its departure from England in December 1787 and 44 at the time of the mutiny, including her commander LieutenantWilliam Bligh.^[1] All but two of those aboard were Royal Navy personnel; the exceptions were two civilian botanists engaged to supervise thebreadfruit plantsBounty was tasked to take fromTahiti to the West Indies.^[2] Of the 44 aboard at the time of the mutiny, 19 (including Bligh) were set adrift in the ship's launch, while 25, a mixture of mutineers and detainees, remained on board underFletcher Christian.^[1] Bligh led his loyalists 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) to safety in the open boat, and ultimately back to England.^[3] The mutineers divided—most settled on Tahiti, where they were captured byHMS Pandora in 1791 and returned to England for trial, while Christian and eight others evaded discovery onPitcairn Island.^[4]

TheAdmiralty ratedBounty as acutter, the smallest category of warship—this meant that she was commanded not by acaptain but by alieutenant, with no othercommissioned officers aboard, and without the usual detachment ofRoyal Marines that ships' commanders could use to enforce their authority.^[5] Directly beneath Bligh in thechain of command were hiswarrant officers, appointed by theNavy Board and headed by the sailing masterJohn Fryer.^[2] The other warrant officers were theboatswain, thesurgeon, the carpenter, and the gunner.^[6] Twomaster's mates and twomidshipmen were rated as petty officers; to these were added several honorary midshipmen—so-called "young gentlemen" who aspired to naval careers. They signed on the ship's roster as able seamen, but were quartered with the midshipmen and treated on equal terms with them.^[7]

Most onBounty were chosen by Bligh, or were recommended to him. However, a draft list of the crew before the voyage includes several who did not sail, including twopressed men who are thought to have deserted.^[8] Of the eventual crew, William Peckover, the gunner, and Joseph Coleman, the armourer, had been with Bligh when he was CaptainJames Cook's sailing master onHMS Resolution during the explorer'sthird voyage (1776–80).^[9] Several others had sailed under Bligh more recently, including Christian, who had twice voyaged with Bligh to the West Indies on the merchantmanBritannia. The two had formed a master-pupil relationship through which Christian had become a highly skilled navigator;^[10] Bligh gave him one of the master's mate's berths onBounty,^[10] and in March 1788, promoted him to the rank of Acting Lieutenant, effectively making Christian second-in-command.^[11] Another of the young gentlemen recommended to Bligh was 15-year-oldPeter Heywood, aManxman and a distant relation of Christian's.^[12] His recommendation came from Bligh's father-in-law, who was a Heywood family friend.^[7]

The two botanists, or "gardeners", were chosen bySir Joseph Banks, the president of theRoyal Society and the expedition's chief promoter. The chief botanist,David Nelson, was another veteran of Cook's third voyage and had learned some of the Tahitians' language.^[13] Nelson's assistant, William Brown, was a former midshipman who had seen naval action against the French.^[9] Banks also helped to secure the midshipmen's berths for two of his protégés,Thomas Hayward andJohn Hallett.^[14] Overall,Bounty's crew was relatively youthful, the majority being under 30.^[15] At the time of departure Bligh was 33 years old and Fryer a year older. Among the older crew members were the gunner, William Peckover, who had sailed on all three of Cook's voyages, and Lawrence Lebogue, formerly sailmaker on theBritannia. The youngest aboard were Hallett and Heywood, who were both 15 when they left England.^[16]

Michael Byrne was born inKilkenny,Ireland, in 1761. He went to sea as anable seaman at the age of 19.^[19] He had served on five naval ships by 1787, when he was signed as anable seaman byCaptain Bligh on the Bounty, primarily to play the fiddle. Bligh wrote, "I had great difficulty before I left England to get a man to play the violin and I preferred at last to take one two-thirds blind than come without one," and described him as being "5 feet 6 inches high. Fair complexion and is almost blind. Plays the fiddle. Has the mark of an issue in the back of his neck."^[20]

During themutiny on 28 April 1789, Byrne was notably the sole able seaman who was a loyalist, but he remained on the ship with the mutineers, apparently because his near-blindness added to his confusion.^[21] He was put ashore onTahiti byFletcher Christian. He gave himself up voluntarily when thePandora arrived in 1791, and subsequently survivedthe wreck of thePandora. He was acquitted of mutiny atcourt-martial in 1792.^{[citation needed]}

He later served with Bligh's nephew,Francis Bond, on thePrompte;^[22] his subsequent fate is unknown.

Thomas Ellison (1772 – 29 October 1792) was anable seaman. After participating in the mutiny, he remained inTahiti rather than continuing on to thePitcairn Islands, and in 1791 voluntarily turned himself in to the seamen ofHMSPandora to face justice in England. He wascourt-martialed atSpithead in September 1792, sentenced to death, andhanged on 29 October. Questions continue as to the degree of Ellison's culpability in the mutiny.

Ellison, although he was only 15 years old when he was mustered aboard captainWilliam Bligh's armed vesselBounty as it sailed fromSpithead forTahiti, was already an experienced able seaman who had seen service in themerchant navy under Bligh in theWest Indies. He was short (5 ft 3 in, 1.60 m) and was described as dark-haired and fair-skinned. In records of the outbound voyage, Bligh praised the lad as "improving" and "is a very good Boy and will do very well."^[23] Bligh also instructed his clerk, John Samuel, to teach "Writing and Arithmetick" to the illiterate teenager.^[24]

During the Mutiny on theBounty on 28 April 1789, Ellison was standing his watch as the ship'swheelsman, which gave him a vantage point to view the personal confrontation between Captain Bligh andFletcher Christian at the heart of the mutiny. Ellison described himself as continuing to obey the captain's orders to "clap the helm down". However, the young seaman then handed control of the helm to a mutineer, John Mills, and left the scene to ask for advice from a loyal crewman, Lawrence LeBogue. When the time came for Ellison to tell his story at hiscourt-martial, he tried to portray this incident as an attempt to establish his loyalty; but LeBogue – who would within minutes be set adrift with Bligh in the ship's boat – was less than helpful or sympathetic to the confused youth:^[24]

He being wex'd, I believe, answerd me in a Sharp surly manner, told me to go to hell and not bother him; this Reception from my old ship mate quite Disheartened me from making an application to any One else.^[24]

He gave himself up voluntarily when HMSPandora arrived in 1791, and was placed in irons as a mutineer. He subsequently survived the wreck of hisprison ship, and was forwarded, still as a prisoner, to England for court-martial proceedings. Ellison faced his judges in September 1792.^[25] In his court-martial testimony, the loyalmidshipmanThomas Hayward, who had also witnessed the mutiny, claimed to see young Ellison holding abayonet and saying of Bligh, "Damn him, I will besentry over him." Hayward also said he saw Ellison in a crowd of mutineers that were jeering their powerless ex-captain and "publicly insulting" him.^[26] John Hallett Claimed that Ellison remarked that Bligh would be put ashore and that he would be allowed back on ship.^[27] Ellison in turn claimed that Hayward and Hallet were crying and lost control of themselves.^[28] In all the testimony only Haywood claimed that Ellison was a guard over Bligh and used insulting language; yet Bligh in his own narrative did not mention Ellison standing guard nor insulting him.^[29] Unfortunely for Ellison three of the Loyal suriviors [Cole; Purcell, and Smith] recalled seeing him armed with a musket and bayonet.^[30][31][32] Able seaman Ellison was seriously outranked by Hayward, who had been promoted tolieutenant, and had no means to hire counsel for his defence or to impeach this damning testimony. As a forlorn hope, the doomed man wrote out a paper for the Judge Advocate, pleading his case and describing the mutiny from his point of view. In this paper he concluded:

I hope, honorable Gentlemen, yo'll be so Kind as to take my Case into Consideration as I was No more than between Sixteen and Seventeen Years of age when this of [sic] done. Honourable Gentlemen, I leave my self at the Clemency and Mercy of this Honourable Court.^[24]

This plea appears to be Ellison's own work, as it contains phonetic misspellings characteristic of hisCockney dialect. It did not, however, save the seaman from the gallows. He was convicted of mutiny and hanged at Spithead on 29 October 1792.

The 1932 novelMutiny on the Bounty, byCharles Nordhoff andJames Norman Hall, portrays Ellison as aheroic character. His youthful optimism is depicted as raising the spirits of his fellow mutineer-prisoners, and his conviction and execution are characterised as amiscarriage of justice. In the 1984 filmThe Bounty, he is played byDexter Fletcher.

John Fryer
Born	(1753-08-15)15 August 1753 Wells, Norfolk, England
Died	26 May 1817(1817-05-26) (aged 63) Wells, Norfolk, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Service years	1781–1812
Rank	Sailing master
Notable event	Mutiny on theBounty

John Fryer (15 August 1753 – 26 May 1817) was thesailing master on Bounty. He was a strong critic of both LieutenantWilliam Bligh and mutiny leaderFletcher Christian, at one time even accusing Bligh of favouring Christian. Despite his anger at Bligh, he did not support the mutiny.

Fryer was born atWells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. After his naval service, he returned to Wells, and his grave in the churchyard is now clearly identified. In 1787, Fryer was appointed master of HMSBounty, with Fletcher Christian serving asmaster's mate. On 10 January 1788, Bligh put his crew on three watches, giving one of them to Christian, and on 2 March, promoted Christian to acting lieutenant. Some have speculated that this was the source of the ill-will that later developed between Fryer and Bligh. However, as a master, Fryer would never have been promoted to lieutenant at sea. Indeed, he never did become a lieutenant.

Fryer remained loyal, and accompanied Bligh in reachingTimor. Bligh's account of the mutiny vilified Fryer, but Fryer gave fair evidence at Bligh's court-martial.Edward Christian, Fletcher's brother, was assisted by Fryer in publishing a counterweight to Bligh's version. Fryer never received promotion, but served in the Royal Navy until 1812.^[33]

In the1935 film, Fryer was played byDeWitt Jennings, whileEddie Byrne portrayed him in the 1962Mutiny on the Bounty.Daniel Day-Lewis portrayed him in the 1984 filmThe Bounty.

John Hallett (1772–1794) was amidshipman on theBounty. He was only 15 when he signed on, and 17 at the time of the mutiny; he accompanied CaptainWilliam Bligh on his open boat voyage to theDutch East Indies. After his return to England he was promoted tolieutenant. He died on 1 December 1794 inBedford, England, aged 22.

Thomas Hayward (1767–1798?) was a sailor present during the mutiny. He was born inHackney, where his father, Francis Hayward M.D., was a noted physician.^[34] Hayward's oldest sister, Ann, was a close friend of Betsy Betham, who marriedWilliam Bligh. Through Betsy, Hayward managed to obtain a position as amidshipman on theBounty. His service on theBounty seems to have been lacklustre, but he remained loyal to Bligh and a staunch opponent ofFletcher Christian, who disliked him immensely. He was the second person ordered into the boat carrying the loyalists, the first being Bligh himself. Heywood also disliked Hayward, calling him a 'worldling', raised a little in society, as a result of which he typically affected airs and graces beyond his station.

Upon returning to England with Bligh, Hayward set out as third lieutenant under CaptainEdward Edwards onHMS Pandora. Although they succeeded in finding some of the mutineers on Tahiti, and Hayward evidently performed well, it was an unfortunate voyage, ending withPandora shipwrecked, and for the second time in as many years Hayward found himself without a ship, in an open boat making for safety. He eventually returned to England with other survivors from thePandora, after which his career is uncertain. It has been suggested, based mainly on nearly illegible papers, that Hayward commanded the sloopHMSSwift. If so, he drowned when the ship was lost with all hands in a typhoon in the South China Sea in 1797 or 1798.

Hayward is not to be confused withPeter Heywood – a fellowBounty midshipman – because of their similar-sounding names.

William McCoy (c.1763 – 20 April 1798) was a Scottish sailor who was withFletcher Christian on the voyage fromTahiti toPitcairn Island, settling there in January 1790. McCoy had one consort,Teio, and fathered two children, Daniel and Catherine. After three years, a conflict broke out between the Tahitian men and the mutineers, resulting in the deaths of all the Tahitian men, Fletcher Christian (Manx), and four of the Englishmen. McCoy (Scottish) was one of the survivors.

McCoy discovered how to distill alcohol from the sweet syrup of the ti tree root.^[35][36] He,Matthew Quintal, and some of the women would lie around all day in a drunken stupor. On 20 April 1798, while drunk, he killed himself by tying a stone to his neck and leaping off a cliff.^[37][38]

William Muspratt (1759–1797) was anable seaman (AB) on His Majesty's Armed ShipBounty. After participating in the mutiny, he wascourt-martialed atSpithead in September 1792, and sentenced to death, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. He returned to active service in the British navy, and probably perished in 1797 aboardHMSBellerophon.^[39]

On the books of theBounty, Muspratt is listed not only as an able seaman but also as the ship'stailor. His status as a craftsman did not grant any special privileges and, like the other AB's of the ship's crew, Muspratt was subject to the discipline of the ship's captain,William Bligh. Upon theBounty's landfall inTahiti in late 1788, Muspratt soon fell foul of his commanding officers and was sentenced in December to a dozen lashes with thecat o' nine tails for "neglect of duty." The seaman appears to have responded to this treatment by attempting to desert the ship, for on 5 January 1789, he absconded with two shipmates. All were recaptured and Muspratt was re-sentenced to four dozen additional lashes.^[39]

Soon after theBounty made sail for the West Indies in early 1789, the mutiny occurred. Witnesses later testified that Muspratt was armed during the take-over with amusket, which he never used nor fired. The mutineer left theBounty when it again called at Tahiti.^[39]

Bligh had meanwhile returned to England and written out descriptions of the mutineers; from this record we learn that Muspratt was "5 feet 6 inches high. Dark complexion, brown hair, slender made. Very strong black beard under his scarred chin. Tattooed in several places." WhenHMSPandora arrived in Tahiti to try to recapture those mutineers that could be found, Muspratt was among those recaptured and returned to England to stand trial formutiny.^[39]

One key element in the outcome of this trial was that Muspratt, although a common seaman, was able to find an attorney to defend him. Although eyewitness testimony depicted the seaman as having been armed during the mutiny, and he was convicted and sentenced to death, he was able successfully to appeal his conviction and return to the ranks. His subsequent service was short, however. His will, probated in January 1798, indicated that his service ended aboard HMSBellerophon, aship of the line.^[39]

Matthew Quintal (baptised 3 March 1766 as Mathew Quintril,Padstow,Cornwall – 1799,Pitcairn Island) was aCornishable seaman. His surname was, in all probability, the result of misspelling the Cornish surname "Quintrell". He was the last of the mutineers to be murdered onPitcairn Island. He was murdered or executed byNed Young andJohn Adams, leaving them the last two mutineers alive on the island.

Quintal was the first crew member punished by flogging "for Insolence and Contempt." He readily joined the mutiny. Five days after landing on Pitcairn Island, Quintal burned theBounty, before the settlers had had a chance to remove everything of value from the ship as a safety precaution to avoid the ship giving their location away to the British Navy. It is not known if he took the action on his own or if he was ordered to. He led the others in oppressing the Polynesians. On 20 September 1793, the four remaining Polynesian men stole muskets and killed Christian, Mills, Brown, Martin, and Williams. Quintal barely escaped being one of the victims by hiding in the mountains withWilliam McCoy.^[40]

McCoy discovered a means of distilling alcohol from one of the island's fruits. He and Quintal quickly descended into alcoholism, often abusing and bullying both the Polynesian men and women, including his consort Tevarua. Rosalind Young, a descendant ofNed Young, relayed a story handed down to her that Tevarua went fishing one day and failed to catch enough fish to satisfy him. He punished her by biting off her ear. He may have been drunk at the time, because he and William McCoy were drunk most of the time, consuming the ti-root brandy that McCoy had succeeded in distilling. Tevarua fell – or, some believe, killed herself by leaping – off a cliff in 1799. After McCoy killed himself, Quintal became increasingly erratic. He demanded to take Isabella, Fletcher Christian's widow, as his wife, and threatened to kill Christian's children if his demands were not granted. Ned Young and John Adams invited him to Young's home and overpowered him, then killed him with an axe.^[40][41]

Quintal's descendants reside onNorfolk Island to this day. A descendant,Malcolm Champion, was a swimmer in the1912 Summer Olympics, becomingNew Zealand's first ever gold medalist.

Edward "Ned" Young (c. 1762 – 25 December 1800), was a British sailor, mutineer and co-founder of the mutineers'Pitcairn Island settlement. Young was born on theWest Indian island ofSaint Kitts. He apparently came from a poor family, but he did attend school. An 1825 Royal Navy biography reports that he was the nephew of SirGeorge Young, Baronet.^[42] He joined the crew of theBounty as amidshipman. Young was asleep during the mutiny, and did not wake until after it was over. Thus, he neither participated in the mutiny nor was able to fight against it or join Bligh and others who left the ship in a long boat. Young was the only crew member to sleep through this ordeal. However, he soon fully supported Christian and the mutineers, and that he would never attempt to return to England. He joined Christian on the voyage to Pitcairn.

On Pitcairn, Young took charge of the distillery and brewed a primitive alcohol. In October 1793, when conflict broke out between the mutineers and the four surviving Tahitian men, Young slept through most of this battle as well, and was protected by a Tahitian woman who largely supported the mutineers. Young did help to hunt down and kill Neho, one of the Tahitian men. The other three surviving mutineers wereMatthew Quintal,William McCoy andJohn Adams. Young was accepted as the leader of the island, and Adams became his friend and deputy, though some sources seem to indicate that the two men had an equal amount of power. They gained much more respect than McCoy and Quintal, who became alcoholics. Quintal became increasingly alcoholic and threatened to kill the entire community; Adams and Young killed Quintal to prevent this from happening, making themselves the only two surviving mutineers. It was after this episode that the distillery was shut down by Young. Meanwhile, they had establishedfruit plantations and had many children by their Tahitian wives.

In 1799 Young began to experienceasthma.^{[citation needed]} At about the same time, he became more religious. The other islanders converted toChristianity, and Young taught Adams and several of the children to read and write. Young's health became progressively worse and eventually he died of asthma, but Adams continued his work of educating the women and children, taking control over leadership of the island, and lived to see the island rediscovered by American and British ships.

Many of Young's and the mutineers' descendants continue to live on Pitcairn Island orNorfolk Island.

• Alexander, Caroline (2003).The Bounty, Viking
• Conway, Christiane (2005).Letters from the Isle of Man – The Bounty-Correspondence of Nessy and Peter Heywood, The Manx Experience,ISBN 1-873120-77-X
• Edwards, Edward; Hamilton, George (1915).Voyage of H. M. S. 'Pandora': Despatched to Arrest the Mutineers of the 'Bounty' in the South Seas, 1790- 1791. Francis Edwards.

• Story of the wreck of thePandora.

• Mutiny on the Bounty
• Crew of HMS Bounty

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