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This cache is on land that once belonged to William Gore (see his story below). The sats were a little tricky but the mosquitoes were much worse. Starbrand muggle rating 2/5.
At dusk on January 26, 1808, the New South Wales Corps, urged on by most of the wealthier inhabitants of Sydney, marched up Bridge Street to Government House with their bayonets fixed and their band playing "The British Grenadiers" - and deposed Governor William Bligh. This was the first major crisis in the colony : the open struggle for power between government and capital – represented by local"gentlemen" of wealth. The early Governors wanted to keep NSW as a large-scale open prison, with a primitive economy based on ex-convicts, and run by government decree; the "gentlemen" - the "officer class" - wanted to build an entrepreneurial economy. They felt property was the basis of freedom, and wanted to gain political influence for themselves (as they would have back in Britain) and to use it. They believed that the future of the colony depended on how well their "officer class" prospered, and they'd run rings around the previous two governors, setting up a series of cartels that controlled just about everything that mattered. Many were "black sheep",those who had left England under some cloud or other.
So the often called Rum Rebellion was not about rum & its distribution. The major issues were land grants (or control thereof), the role of the Governor (whom the "gentlemen" felt should be first among equals), Bligh’s autocracy (he overrode court decisions), and his “quarter deck” manner. Bligh was direct and sometimes personally abusive - as a naval officer of the period had to be to survive – and he expected his orders to be obeyed immediately without question. So there was a feeling amongst the “officer class” that William Bligh did not treat them like “gentlemen”, that he lacked a "gentleman's honour", and thus was not one of them. Bligh was,of course, a Naval officer. He'd risen through the ranks on sheer merit and skill starting as a Ship's Boy and Captain's Servant; Captain James Cook had chosen him as his sailing master, a warrant officer's appointment for a skilled navigator and ship handler.
The "officers" were all serving or retired Army,and they had purchased their King's commissions in the NSW Corps. And that meant to them that it was morally wrong for a person of lower class origins like Bligh to be in a position of power over their lives and futures.
When they seized power, they had hoped to find evidence to prove that William Bligh was as corrupt as they knew themselves to be - and that they were therefore quite justified in their coup d'etat. They knew they would have to justify their actions, so the party line was that they did not mutiny or revolt - they were simply doing their loyal duty... The trouble for them was that Bligh was not corrupt. No evidence was ever found. And he was an exceptionally brave officer - personally commended by Lord Nelson for his actions at the Battle of Copenhagen in HMS Glatton, a ship of the line (battle ship) - and was handpicked by HM Government as Governor of NSW at twice the salary of the outgoing Governor. They extended their full support to bringing order and equity to a colony that then encompassed modern day Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the eastern parts of South Australia.
Bligh stopped more and more of the "officer class" rorts (like selling government stores privately, buying up imports from Europe & India off the boat and reselling at 500% profit, and using government livestock and "free" convict labour to build up their own business) He also championed the small landholders who he saw as the future of the colony, and introduced a food scheme to help the poor. When Bligh finally left NSW, it is significant that the Loyal Address bidding him farewell was signed by 460 significant colonists, whereas grazier and ring leader John McArthur's requisition that he be overthrown had the signatures of but 150 individuals, and most of those had signed under duress.
The rebellion lasted two years during which New South Wales was turned into a police state with McArthur as virtual dictator. But good triumphed over evil eventually. Lachlan Macquarie with the 73rd Regiment arrived at Port Jackson took up his commission as governor on the 1st January 1810.
The man who termed himself Lieutenant-Governor, Major George Johnston, commandant of the NSW Corps, was court martialled for his life in London, and "cashiered" - that is dishonourably discharged and stripped of all benefits; many at the time felt he should have been hanged for mutiny. He was lucky because HM Government was concerned that Army versus Navy grudges could be created by such a punishment, and the success in the final critical stages of the long War against Napoleon were more important.
John MacArthur, the real villain and the power behind Major Johnston was "exiled" in England for nearly 9 years, having been told that if he returned to Australia, he would be arrested, charged with High Treason and very probably hanged. His wife Elizabeth remained on his property and managed their sheep business. Judged legally insane, "Mad Mack" died in 1834. The NSW Corps were disbanded on its return to England, and then, rebadged as the 102nd Foot, was sent in 1812 to guard the Canadian border with the USA. And others involved like Lt-Colonel Joseph Foveaux, were punished in similar ways that hit their pocket, pride and prospects. William Bligh's loyalists were rewarded with land grants and career advancements, and he was promoted to Rear Admiral (backdated 12 months).
William Gore (1765-1845) came out to New South Wales with William Bligh, and in 1806 Bligh appointed him Provost Marshal – equivalent to our modern Commissioner of Police. At the time of the Rebellion, Gore, loyal to Bligh, arrested John Macarthur, and, when the Governor was overthrown, Gore was in his turn arrested and spent two years in the coal mines of Newcastle. In 1810 the new Governor Lachlan Macquarie reinstated him as Provost Marshall, and Gore received a grant of 150 acres of farming land which he named Artarmon after his home in Ireland. The present railway station sits in the centre of that original farm. Gore bought up surrounding grants, and by 1815 he owned most of the land between St Leonard’s and Mowbray Road, Chatswood, and had built “Artarmon House” (where North Sydney College of TAFE now stands at Gore Hill) where he lived until his death.
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Since I originally wrote on this subject a couple of years ago, a history of the military coup "Captain Bligh's Other Mutiny" by Stephen Dando-Collins has been published by Random House, and I am indebted to him for some fresh information he's extracted from original sources. The book, some 300 pages, reads like a thriller and I can thoroughly recommend it.
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Originally adopted by Hunter-Finder R.I.P.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cergraq lbh ner n gebyy