E26: Governor Bligh Arrives on a Warpath

Captain William Bligh assumed office as the Governor of New South Wales in August 1806. Bligh had had a brilliant career at sea but it had been sullied by reports of him being a horrible boss. The governorship of New South Wales was seen by Bligh as a way to redeem his reputation … but rather than change his ways, he doubled down on all his worst traits. Bligh arrived with the mindset of a war-time governor. New South Wales was an administrative mess – Bligh would use state power to knock it into shape.

The first thing Governor Bligh did was secure a powerbase among the poorer farmers of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River district. Bligh then started issuing decrees that smashed the economic system that has arisen … and that by and large, was making the colony quite prosperous. All Bligh’s measures had one objective: strangle the power of the trading faction and in particular their leader – John Macarthur.

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The Hon. John Ruddick MLC is a member of the NSW Legislative Council. 

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