Rum Rebellion began - January 26, 1808

On this day in 1808, William Bligh, the Governor of New South Wales, was deposed by a military coup. 

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio High Again. Everyone. I'm Eves and you're listening
to This Day in History Class, where instead of going
back to the future, we go back to the past.
Today is January. The day was January eight. William Bly,

(00:30):
the governor of New South Wales, was deposed by a
military coup. The military was in power for two years
during a takeover now known as the Run Rebellion, though
this name was not used at the time. In Sight,
the first fleet, led by Captain Arthur Philip, arrived in
Australia from England on January. The ships arrived at Port Jackson,

(00:54):
marking the beginning of British colonization on the Australian mainland,
a place that was already in habitant by indigenous Australians.
The first fleet included military and government officials, their families
and other colonists, but it also included hundreds of people
convicted of crimes and sentenced to transportation. New South Wales

(01:16):
was founded as a penal colony. Philip became the first
governor of the colony. Governors represented and took instruction from
the British government. They were the supreme authority in the colony,
and because the British Parliament was far away, they were
able to exercise more power than Parliament prescribed. The New
South Wales Core made up of several hundred men formed

(01:40):
in England in seventeen eighty nine. Many of them were
unskilled or semi skilled men who were struggling in Britain
and looking for a better life in New South Wales.
In addition to better wages and living conditions that the
men could look forward to, the officers got the opportunity
to engage in trade, land grants from the governor and

(02:00):
free labor from convicts. At the same time, officers grew
wealthy and lived comfortably. People in the colony dealt with
food shortages and poor infrastructure. Since the colony did not
have enough currency, trade was handled through barter, permissory notes,
and coins. Convicts in lower ranking military members were often

(02:21):
paid in goods, especially rum imported from India. The officers
of the corps monopolized the trade in rum, buying it
up and exchanging it for goods in labor. Because of this,
they became known as the Rum Corps. The commanding officers
of New South Wales Corps took over after Governor Philip
returned to England in seventeen two. During their time in power,

(02:46):
they controlled the colony's economy. They administered the colony until
Governor John Hunter took the reins in sevent Hunter and
the next governor, Philip Gidley King, fought the military's monopoly
on trade, but to no avail. In eighteen o six,
William Bli became the governor of New South Wales. Bli

(03:06):
had a reputation for being tough, and he began efforts
to control trade monopolies and corruption among the officers. The
Corps officers began to resent him. Bli soon clashed with
former Corps officer John mcgarthur over a land grant, and
conflict between the two continued over other matters. When Bli
had mcgarthur taken to trial over an issue involving one

(03:29):
of McArthur's ships, the court included a jury of six
Corps officers. The trial escalated from Bli accusing the officers
of treason to the Corps commanding officer, George Johnston, issuing
an order that Bli be removed from office. On Januar,
eight men from the New South Wales Corps marched from

(03:50):
the parade ground on High Street to Government House, followed
by a large crowd. They found Bligh and arrested and
deposed him. Johnston and McArthur then took control of the colony.
Bligh remained under arrest in Government House with his daughter
for more than a year. The next governor, Lochland Macquarie,

(04:11):
took over in January of eighteen ten. The seventy third
Regiment replaced the New South Wales Corps. Macquarie canceled all
land grants and court sentences made under the military's rule,
and he called for quote union, tranquility and harmony, declaring
that everyone appointed to an office of law after the
coup would be immune from prosecution regarding their actions while

(04:34):
in office. In eighteen ten, Johnston was convicted of mutiny
and dismissed from the army, though he later returned to
New South Wales and lived a comfortable life. McArthur had
gone to England and he was ordered to be tried
for treason when he returned to New South Wales, but
he did not go back until he was given permission

(04:55):
to return without facing trial in eighteen seventeen, on the
condition he would not be involved in public affairs. MacArthur
was appointed to the new South Wales Legislative Council in
I'm Eve Jeff Coote and hopefully you know a little
more about history of today than you did yesterday. You
can find us on social media at t d i

(05:18):
h C Podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You can
also shoot us an email at this Day at i
heart media dot com. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
We'll be back tomorrow with another one. For more podcasts

(05:41):
from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.