FAMOUS INCIDENT IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28835, 4 March 1959, Page 12

FAMOUS INCIDENT IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY

One of the most fascinating and stirring episodes in Australian colonial history, the famous Rum Rebellion and the deposition of Governor Bligh in 1808, was traced in detail when Mr A B Ryan gave his presidential address to the annual meeting of the Historical Association (Canterbury) last evening. Mr Ryan covered the events of some years which culminated in the rebellion, and which helped to illustrate the personality of John Macarthur, the principal character with Bligh in the drama. Of Macarthur, Mr Ryan said: “He was wealthy as a trader, and wealthy as a farmer in terms of land. He had defeated two governors (Hunter and King) and could count on the full support of the military and trading groups. That the free settlers at the Hawkesbury regarded him as an unscrupulous exploiter and the source of all the evils of the eolony concerned him not at all. “That was Macarthur’s character —unscrupulous, without pity, and lacking completely in regard for others save those of his own family. . . . Always he saw his own interests as inextricably linked with those of the colony and no doubt he though himself justified in defying governors and manipulating the Courts in the furtherance of his schemes.” Early Quarrels Discussing Macarthur’s early quarrels with colonial officials. Mr Ryan mentioned what he described as “the Macarthur modus operandi.” “First there was the writing of threatening and abusive letters, and then, when these were unsuccessful, in intimidating his opponents, the affair became a charge against the honour of the New South Wales Regiment, and the opponent was borne down under the threat of continuous duelling." Mr Ryan’s verdict on Bligh was “a man of quick temper and hasty speech, and a man supremely confident of his own abilities, tenacious to the point of obstinacy, and angrily intolerant of any evidence of the lack of these qualities in others. ... He displayed great abilities, and his elevation to the dignity of a fellow of the Royal Society was a well-deserved one. “His choice as governor of New South Wales was both a good <>ne and a bad one. It was good

because of his devotion to his duty and his unremitting zeal in carrying out his instructions, but it was bad in terms of his intolerance of the opinions of others, and his choleric impatience at their opposition. Both Macarthur and Bligh. then, were headstrong and self-opinionated, but whereas Macarthur could bend men of position to his will, Bligh could only estrange them, and that is the main factor which gave victory to the rebels in 1808, and made possible the deposition of the governors,” he said. Mr Ryan said that he had been prompted to choose the Rum Rebellion as the topic for his address after having had an opportunity to visit areas in and around Sydney during a recent visit to Australia.