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Governor Bligh and the Rum
Rebellion
Governor Macquarie’s Judgement of the Rum Rebellion and Actions taken
Correspondence from Governor Macquarie to Viscount Castlereagh
30 April 1810
Command Assumed by Governor Macquarie
In pursuance of the King’s commands I should have restored Governor Bligh to the
Government on my arrival, but had not an opportunity of doing so, in consequence
of his being then at the Derwent. I found Lieutenant Governor Paterson in
command of this Government. The situation of the Colony appeared to me to
require that I should immediately assume the command before I could apprize
Governor Bligh of my arrival and of
his return to this settlement [from Van Diemens Land], I judged it most
advisable not to wait, convincing it to be the
real spirit of your Lordship’s instructions that I should immediately
take charge of the Government, in the event of my not finding Governor Bligh at
Port Jackson – I accordingly landed here on the thirty first day of December,
and disembarked the 73rd Regiment on the day following. My Commission
as Governor in chief of this Territory was read with all due solemnity in the
presence of all the troops and inhabitants of Sydney on the first of January
1810......
The first Colonial vessel that could be got ready, I dispatched to the Derwent
with letters to Governor Bligh announcing my arrival, and having taken charge of
the Government.
Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston and Mr. McArthur having left the Colony long
previous to my arrival in it prevented my carrying into effect that part of my
instructions which referred to them.
Officers Removed and Reinstated by Governor Macquarie
I removed all those persons who had been appointed to public offices by the
usurped government, and reinstated those Gentlemen who had been removed by it.
Revocation of Grants
and Leases by Governor Macquarie
All grants of Land and Stock and Leases made by the usurped Government have been
revoked and declared null and void, and no grants or leases made to any Officer
of the New South Wales Corps have been renewed.
Trials Declared Void
by Governor Macquarie
The trials and investigations which were made during the usurpation of the
Government have also been declared null and void.
Arrival of Governor
Bligh at Sydney
On the seventeenth of January (1810) Governor Bligh arrived here from the
Derwent in His Majesty’s Ship
Hindostan, and was received by me with every mark of respect and attention.
[Historical Records of Australia,
Series One, Volume Seven pp 245 - 247.]
Governor Macquarie to Viscount Castlereagh
10 May
1810
Governor Macquarie’s Opinion of the Rebellion Against Governor Bligh
It occurs to me that your Lordship may perhaps wish to know my transactions and
disturbances that took place here, as connected with the arrest of Governor
Bligh, and the subversion of his Government, by Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston, as
the head of the New South Wales Regiment, and find it extremely difficult to
form a just judgement on this delicate and mysterious subject, party rancour
having run so high as to preclude
the possibility of arriving at the truth without a very minute and legal
investigation of the whole business.
But, in justice to Governor Bligh, I must say that I have not been able to
discover any act of his which could in any degree form an excuse for, or any way
warrant, the violent and mutinous proceedings pursued against him on that
occasion, very few complaints having been made to me against him, and even few
are rather of a trifling nature.
On the other hand, there cannot be a doubt but that Governor Bligh’s
administration was extremely unpopular, particularly among the higher orders of
the people, and from my own short experience, I must acknowledge that he is a
most unsatisfactory man to transact business with, from his want of candour and
decision, in so much that it is impossible to place the smallest reliance on the
fulfilment of any engagement he enters into.
[Historical Records of Australia,
Series One, Volume Seven pp 330 - 332.]
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