How Mary Bligh fought back in military coup with her parasol

The enduring image of the Rum Rebellion is of William Bligh hiding under a bed, but it was his daughter who owned the hour.

Illustration depicting the arrest of Governor William Bligh by the NSW Corps at Government House during the Rum Rebellion in 1808.

When 300 armed soldiers stormed Government House to overthrow Governor William Bligh in the Rum Rebellion, it’s rumoured he cowered under a bed.

His feisty daughter, on the other hand, stood in defiance at the gates, valiantly trying to fight off the angry rebels with just her parasol.

Mary Bligh is the subject of today’s new episode of the free In Black and White podcast on Australia’s forgotten characters:

The astonishing true story is retold in a new historical novel called That Bligh Girl by journalist and author Sue Williams.

Mary and William had a complicated relationship, characterised by him bullying, belittling and double crossing his daughter for personal gain.

An illustration depicting how Governor William Bligh was rumoured to have been arrested by the NSW Corps at Government House in Sydney during the Rum Rebellion in 1808.

Yet Mary maintained a fierce loyalty to her cantankerous father, who is best known from the notorious Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789, when his crew seized control of his ship and set Bligh adrift in a small boat.

The former Royal Navy captain was appointed governor in 1805 to rein in the power of the NSW Corps, aka the Rum Corps, a regiment of the British Army.

Bligh’s wife wasn’t keen, so he brought Mary to Sydney to become the “governor’s consort”, entertaining dignitaries and wielding considerable influence in the young colony.

When 300 soldiers marched to Government House in Sydney on January 26, 1808, in Australia’s first and only military coup, Mary was entertaining at a dinner party inside.

New South Wales governor William Bligh

Mary Bligh (Putland). Photo: State Library of NSW.

While her father was nowhere to be seen, it was left to the diminutive Mary – dressed in mourning black after her husband’s death three weeks earlier – to face the invaders alone.

“Suddenly they could hear the pipes and drums sounding at the head of the procession,” Williams says.

“There were fires being lit; there were effigies of William Bligh being put on those fires.

“And as she went out to the front gates of Government House, she could see everybody marching down the hill towards her.

“And she was very fearful that they were there to kill her father.

“So she went to the gates, and with her parasol, even though they had all their loaded muskets, she started hitting them, beating them on the chest with her parasol.

“Nobody else from the house came out to help her. She was there alone, and fighting all these troops – it was quite amazing.”

That Bligh Girl, by Sue Williams.

Mary Bligh (Putland). Picture: State Library of NSW.

When the soldiers forced their way into the house, Mary tried to stop them climbing the stairs to search for her father.

“It was an astonishing kind of performance by, you know, a woman who didn’t have a gun, who had nothing, who just had a parasol,” Williams says.

Despite Mary’s courageous stand, the soldiers caught Bligh and placed both under house arrest.

To find out more, listen to the interview with Sue Williams in the free In Black and White podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or web.

See In Black & White in the Herald Sun newspaper every Friday for more stories and photos from Victoria’s past.