Editing Rum Rebellion (section)

==Bligh's appointment as governor==
[[William Bligh]] succeeded [[Philip Gidley King]]. Bligh was well known for his overthrow in the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutiny on the ''Bounty'']]. It is likely that he was deliberately selected by the British government because of his reputation as a "hard man" and was expected to have a good chance of reining in the maverick [[New South Wales Corps]]; something that his predecessors had not been able to do.<ref>Duffy, pp. 248–9</ref> Bligh left for [[Sydney]] with his daughter, [[Mary Putland]], and her husband, [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] John Putland, while Bligh's wife remained in England.<ref name="Ritchie, p. 102">Ritchie, p. 102</ref>

Even before his arrival, Bligh's style of governance led to problems with his subordinates. The [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] gave command of the storeship {{HMS|Porpoise|1804|6}} and the [[convoy]] to the lower-ranked Captain Joseph Short, while Bligh took command of a transport ship. This led to quarrels which eventually resulted in Captain Short firing across Bligh's bow in an attempt to force Bligh to obey his signals.<ref name="AustEncI"/> When this failed, Short tried to give an order to Lieutenant Putland to stand by to fire on Bligh's ship.<ref name="AustHer1">{{cite book | title=Australia's Heritage Vol.1 | editor=Rex Rienits | pages = 254–7 | publisher=Paul Hamlyn | location=Sydney | year=1970}}</ref> Bligh boarded ''Porpoise'' and seized control of the convoy.

When they arrived in Sydney, Bligh, backed up by statements from two of Short's officers, had Short stripped of the captaincy of ''Porpoise'' – which he gave to his son-in-law, cancelled the {{convert|600|acre|ha|order=flip|adj=on}} land grant Short had been promised as payment for the voyage, and shipped him back to England for [[court-martial]]. Short was [[acquittal|acquitted]].<ref name="AustEncI"/> The president of the court, [[Sir Isaac Coffin, 1st Baronet|Sir Isaac Coffin]], wrote to the Admiralty and made several serious accusations against Bligh, including that he had influenced the officers to testify against Short. Bligh's wife obtained a statement from one of the officers denying this, and Banks and other supporters of Bligh lobbied successfully against his recall as governor.<ref name="AustHer1"/>

===Arrival in Sydney===
[[File:Portrait of William Bligh.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[William Bligh]]]]
Soon after his arrival at Sydney, in August 1806, Bligh was given an address of welcome signed by [[Major (United Kingdom)|Major]] [[George Johnston (British Marines officer)|George Johnston]] for the military, by Richard Atkins for the civilian officers, and by [[John Macarthur (wool pioneer)|John Macarthur]] for the free settlers. However, not long after, Bligh also received addresses from the free and freed settlers of Sydney and the [[Hawkesbury River]] region, with a total of 369 signatures, many made only with a cross, complaining that Macarthur did not represent them. They blamed him for withholding sheep so as to raise the price of [[mutton]].<ref name="Ritchie, p. 102"/>

One of Bligh's first actions was to use the colony's stores and herds to provide relief to farmers who had been severely affected by flooding on the Hawkesbury River, a situation that had disrupted the [[barter|barter economy]] in the colony. Supplies were divided according to those most in need, and provisions were made for loans to be drawn from the store based on capacity to repay. This earned Bligh the gratitude of the farmers, but the enmity of traders in the Corps who had been profiting greatly from the situation.<ref name="AustEncI"/>

Under instructions from the [[Colonial Office]], Bligh attempted to normalise trading conditions in the colony by prohibiting the use of [[liquor|spirits]] as payment for commodities. He communicated his policy to the Colonial Office in 1807, with the advice that his policy would be met with resistance. On 31 December 1807 [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh]], [[Secretary of State for War and the Colonies]], wrote back to Bligh with instructions to stop the barter of spirits.

[[File:Thomas Watling View of Sydney.jpg|thumb|Painting of Sydney, c. 1799]]
[[H. V. Evatt]] concludes in his history of the Rebellion that Bligh "was authorised to prevent free importation, to preserve the trade under his entire control, to enforce all penalties against illegal import, and to establish regulations at his discretion for the sale of spirits".<ref>Evatt, pp. 88–9</ref> He argues that the enmity of the monopolists within the colony stemmed from this prohibition and other policies which counteracted the power of the rich and promoted the welfare of the poor settlers. Bligh ceased the practice of handing out large land grants to the powerful in the colony; during his term, he granted just over 1,600 hectares of land, half of it to his daughter and himself.<ref name="DuffySMH"/>

Bligh also caused controversy by allowing a group of Irish convicts to be tried for revolt by a court that included their accusers. But when six of the eight were acquitted, he ordered them kept under arrest anyway.<ref name="AustEncI"/> He dismissed [[D'Arcy Wentworth]] from his position of Assistant Surgeon to the Colony without explanation, and sentenced three merchants to a month's imprisonment and a fine for writing a letter that he considered offensive.<ref name="Ritchie, pp. 106-110">Ritchie, pp. 106–110</ref> Bligh also dismissed [[Thomas Jamison]] from the [[magistrate|magistracy]],<ref name="BiogEA">{{cite web | url=http://bendigolive.com/australia/m/macarthur2.htm | title=John Macarthur (1767–1834), pioneer and founder of the wool industry | work=The Biography of Early Australia | publisher=bendigolive.com | access-date=2010-01-19 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927105433/http://bendigolive.com/australia/m/macarthur2.htm | archive-date=27 September 2009}}</ref> describing him in 1807 as being "inimical" to good government. Jamison was the highly capable (if crafty) Surgeon-General of New South Wales, and had accumulated significant personal wealth as a maritime trader; he was also a friend and business partner of the powerful Macarthur.

In October 1807 Major Johnston wrote a formal letter of complaint to the [[Commander-in-Chief of the Forces|Commander-in-Chief of the British Army]], stating that Bligh was abusive and interfering with the troops of the New South Wales Corps.<ref>''The Australian Encyclopaedia Vol.I'', p 686</ref> Bligh had clearly made enemies of some of the most influential people in the colony. He also antagonised some of the less wealthy when he ordered those who had leases on government land within Sydney to remove their houses.<ref name="Ritchie, pp. 106-110"/>

===Enmity between Bligh and Macarthur===
[[File:John Macarthur.jpg|thumb|upright|[[John Macarthur (wool pioneer)|John Macarthur]]]]
Macarthur had arrived with the New South Wales Corps in 1790 as a lieutenant, and by 1805 he had substantial farming and commercial interests in the colony. He had quarrelled with the governors preceding Bligh and had fought three [[duel]]s.

Bligh and Macarthur's interests clashed in a number of ways. Bligh stopped Macarthur from cheaply distributing large quantities of [[rum]] into the Corps and halted his allegedly illegal importation of [[still]]s. Macarthur's interest in an area of land granted to him by King conflicted with Bligh's town-planning interests. The two men were also engaged in other disagreements, including a conflict over landing regulations. In June 1807, a convict had [[stowaway|stowed away]] and escaped Sydney on Macarthur's [[schooner]] {{ship||Paramatta|1803 ship|2}}. When ''Parramatta'' returned to Sydney in December 1807, the bond held to ensure that masters and owners of vessels did not help prisoners escape the colony was deemed to be forfeited.<ref name="SLNSWBlighBanks">{{cite web | url = http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/banks/series_40/40_view.cfm | title = Series 40: Correspondence, being mainly letters received by Banks from William Bligh, 1805–1811 | work = Papers of Sir Joseph Banks: Section 7 – Governors of New South Wales | publisher = State Library of New South Wales | access-date = 2006-03-26 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060216144700/http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/banks/series_40/40_view.cfm | archive-date = 16 February 2006}}</ref>

Bligh had the [[Judge Advocate of New South Wales|Judge Advocate]], Richard Atkins, issue an order for Macarthur to appear on the matter of the bond on 15 December 1807. Macarthur disobeyed the order, was arrested and [[bail]]ed, and failed to appear for trial at the next sitting of the Sydney Criminal Court on 25 January 1808. Atkins rejected this, but Macarthur's protest had the support of the other six members of the court, all officers of the New South Wales Corps.<ref name="AustEncI">{{cite book | title=The Australian Encyclopaedia Vol.I | editor=A.W. Jose| pages = 171–2 | publisher=Angus & Robertson | location=Sydney | year=1927|display-editors=etal}}</ref> Macarthur objected to Atkins being fit to sit in judgement of him because he was his debtor and inveterate enemy.<ref name="AustEncII">{{cite book | title=The Australian Encyclopaedia Vol. II | editor=A.W. Jose| pages = 3–4 | publisher=Angus & Robertson | location=Sydney | year=1926|display-editors=etal}}</ref> Without the Judge Advocate, the trial could not take place and the court dissolved.<ref name="SLNSWBlighBanks"/>

Bligh accused the six officers of what amounted to [[mutiny]] and summoned Johnston to come and deal with the matter. Johnston replied that he was ill,<ref name="AustEncI"/> as he had wrecked his [[Gig (carriage)|gig]] on the evening of 24 January on his way home to his [[Annandale Farm|farm]] after dining with officers of the Corps.<ref name="DuffySMH">[http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/proof-of-historys-rum-deal/2006/01/27/1138319443948.html "Proof of history's rum deal"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170826085621/http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/proof-of-historys-rum-deal/2006/01/27/1138319443948.html |date=26 August 2017 }} – article by Michael Duffy, ''[[Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 28 January 2006</ref>